A 

^GOODBOOK^ 

IS  THE  • 

PRECIOU6 

LIFE-BLOOD, 

OF  A 

MASTER 

.5PIR1T. 


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The  KINGS  TREASURIES 

OF     LITERATURE 


GENERAL  EDITOR 
Sir  AT  QUILLER  COUCH 


J.JVL  ri-V'-'fy.'VJt»'^«v^n.V'.n  .'V'.il.''VU-'vga^l 


NEW  YORK:  E-P-DUTTON  AND  COMPANTY 


■  ■■>       ■■  ■    I  ■  I  ■   I  III  ■I'll  ■      II  ■   ■■-■■     II  -  ^ 


■n-A-  o  ■...■  n  •...'  n  t.,'  ur..«  ni,.-  n 


J-M-DENT  &  SONS  LTD  •  LONDON  <2f  TORONTO* 


Sole  Agent  for  Scotland 

THE  GRANT  EDUCATIONAL  CO.  LTD. 

GLASGOW 


AH  rights  reserved 


CONTENTS 


PQ  Z2.5Y 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  Tells   of   the   News   that  a   White   Rose 

BRINGS   TO   the    COUNTESS   OF   THE  WhITE 

Moor  .......         9 

II.  How  THE  Loves  of  Bee  of  the  Clarides 

AND  George  of  the  White  Moor  began        13 

III.  Which  deals  with  Education  in  General, 

AND  THAT  OF  GeORGE  IN  PARTICULAR      .    1 7 

IV.  Tells    how    the    Duchess    took    Bee    and 

George  to  the  Hermitage  and  of  Their 
Meeting  an  Hideous  Old  Woman  there       20 
V.  Is  concerned  with  what  you  see  from  the 

Keep  of  the  Clarides  ...       26 

VI.  Tells  how  Bee  and  George  went  off  to 

THE  Lake     ......       30 

VII.  Shows  the  Penalty  George  of  the  White 
Moor  paid  for   having  gone  near  to 
THE  Lake  where  live  the  Sylphs        .       39 
VlII.  Shows  how  Bee  was  taken  to  the  Land 

OF  THE  Dwarfs    .....       42 

IX.  Tells  faithfully  the  Welcome   given  by 

King  I>oc  to  Bee  of  the  Clarides  .  .       50 

X.  In  which  the  Wonders  of  the  Kingdom 
OF  THE  Dwarfs  are  thoroughly  de- 
scribed,   AS   WELL  AS    THE    DOLLS    WHICH 

were  given  to  Bee      ....       $6 

M61Z703 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XI.  In   which   the   Treasure   of   King   Log   is 

DESCRIBED  AS  WELL  AS  POSSIBLE         .  .  6 1 

XII.  In  which  King  Loc  proposes      ,         .         ,       67 

XIII.  Tells    how    Bee    saw    Her    Mother    and 

COULD    NOT   kiss    HeR       .  .  .  .  7O 

XIV.  In  which  the  Great  Grief  that  overtook 

King  Loc  is  seen         ....       74 

XV.  Relates  the  Words  of  the  Learned  Nur 
WHICH  gave  an  Extraordinary  Plea- 
sure TO  Little  King  Loc    .  .  -       77 
XVI.  Tells     the     Marvellous     Adventure     of 

George  of  the  White  Moor        .  .       84 

XVII.  In    which    King    Loc    makes    a    Terrible 

Journey       .         .         .         ...  .91 

XVIII.  Tells     the     Marvellous     Meeting     that 

OCCURRED  TO  JOHN,  THE  MASTER  TaILOR, 

and  of  the  good  song  sung  by  the 
Birds  of  the  Grove  to  the  Duchess    .       97 
XIX.  Tells  of  a  Little  Satin  Slipper  .  .  .     102 

XX.  In     which     a     Dangerous     Adventure     is 

RELATED  ......        108 

XXI.  In  which  All  ends  well  .  .  .  •     nS 


Looking  Backward 


119 


The  Sorrow  of  Demeter.    By  Sir  G.  W.  Cox     133 

The  King  of  the  Golden  Mountain.     By 

the  Brothers  Grimm         .  .  .  -139 

Persephone.     By  Jean  Ingelow    .  .  •     151 

The  Writer  of  the  Story  of  Bee    .  .      157 


BEE 

PRINCESS    OF    THE    DWARFS 

CHAPTER  I 

TELLS  OF  THE  NEWS  THAT  A  WHITE  ROSE  BRINGS 
TO  THE   COUNTESS   OF  THE   WHITE   MOOR 

Setting  on  her  golden  hair  a  hood  spread  with 
pearls  and  tying  round  her  waist  the  widow's 
girdle,  the  Countess  of  the  White  Moor  entered 
the  chapel  where  she  prayed  each  day  for  the 
soul  of  her  husband,  killed  by  an  Irish  giant 
in  single  combat. 

That  day  she  saw,  on  the  cushion  of  her 
praying-stool,  a  white  rose.  At  the  sight  of  it  she 
turned  pale  and  her  eyes  grew  dim;  she  threw 
her  head  back  and  wrung  her  hands.  For  she 
knew  that  when  a  Countess  of  the  White  Moor 
must  die  she  finds  a  white  rose  on  her  stool. 

Knowing  that  the  time  had  come  for  her  to 
leave  this  world,   where   she  had  been  within 

9 


10  BEE:     PRINCESS 

such  a  short  space  of  time  a  wife,  a  mother,  and 
a  widow,  she  went  to  her  room,  where  slept  her 
son  George,  guarded  by  waiting  women.  He  was 
three  years  old;  his  long  eyelashes  threw  a 
pretty  shade  on  his  cheeks,  and  his  mouth  was 
like  a  flower.  Seeing  how  small  he  was  and  how 
young,  she  began  to  cry. 

"  My  Uttle  boy,"  she  said  in  a  faint  voice, 
*'  my  dear  little  boy,  you  will  never  have  known 
me,  and  I  shall  never  again  see  myself  in  your 
sweet  eyes.  Yet  I  nursed  you  myself, 
so  as  to  be  really  your  mother,  and 
I  have  refused  to  marry  the  greatest 
knights  for  your  sake." 

She  kissed  a  locket  in  which  was  a 
portrait  of  herself  and  a  lock  of  her 
hair,  and  put  it  round  her  son's  neck. 
Then  a  mother's  tear  fell  on  his  cheek, 
and  he  began  to  move  in  his  cradle  and 
rub  his  eyes  with  his  little  fists.  But 
the  Countess  turned  her  head  away 
and  fled  from  the  room.  Her  own  eyes  were 
soon  to  close  for  ever;  how  could  they  bear  to 
look  into  those  two  adorable  eyes  where  the 
light  of  understanding  had  just  begun  to  dawn? 

She  had  a  horse  saddled  and  rode  to  the  castle 
of  the  Clarides,  followed  by  her  squire,  Free- 
heart. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  ii 

The  Duchess  of  the  Clarides  kissed  the  Coun- 
tess of  the  White  Moor: 

*'  What  good  chance  has  brought  you  here, 
my  dear?  " 

"It  is  an  evil  chance  that  has  brought  me; 
listen,  dearest.  We  were  married  within  a  few 
years  of  each  other,  and  we  became  widows  by 
a  similar  misfortune.  In  these  times  of  chivalry 
the  best  die  soonest,  and  only  monks  live  long. 
When  you  became  a  mother  I  had  already  been 
one  for  two  years.  Your  daughter  Bee  is  as 
beautiful  as  day,  and  nothing  can  be  said  against 
my  son  George.  I  Uke  you  and  you  like  me.  For 
I  must  tell  you  I  have  found  a  white  rose  on  the 
cushion  of  my  stool.  I  am  going  to  die.  I  leave 
my  son  to  you." 

The  Duchess  was  aware  of  the  news  that  the 
white  rose  brings  to  the  ladies  of  the  House  of 
White  Moor.  She  began  to  cry,  and  promised 
in  her  tears  to  bring  up  Bee  and  George  as  sister 
and  brother,  and  not  to  give  anything  to  one 
without  giving  half  to  the  other.  Then  the  two 
ladies  put  their  arms  round  each  other,  and 
went  to  the  cradle  where  little  Bee  slept  under 
light  blue  curtains,  as  blue  as  the  sky.  Without 
opening  her  eyes  she  moved  her  little  arms, 
and  as  she  opened  her  fingers  five  small  pink 
beams  appeared  to  come  out  of  each  sleeve. 


12  BEE:     PRINCESS 

"  He  will  defend  her/'  said  the  mother  of 
George.  *'  And  she  will  love  him/'  the  mother 
of  Bee  answered.  "  She  will  love  him/'  a  small, 
clear  voice  repeated. 

The  Duchess  recognised  it  as  that  of  a  spirit 
that  had  long  lived  under  the  hearthstone. 

On  her  return  to  her  manor  the  Lady  of  the 
White  Moor  divided  her  jewels  among  her  maids, 
and,  having  anointed  herself  with  odorous 
essences  and  put  on  her  most  beautiful  clothes 
to  honour  that  body  which  will  rise  again  on 
the  Day  of  Judgment,  she  laid  herself  down  on 
the  bed  and  went  to  sleep  for  ever. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  13 


CHAPTER  II 

HOW  THE  LOVES  OF  BEE  OF  THE  CLARIDES  AND 
GEORGE  OF  THE  WHITE  MOOR  BEGAN 

The  ordinary  lot  of  women  is  to  be  more  good 
than  beautiful  or  more  beautiful  than  good. 
But  the  Duchess  of  Clarides  was  as  good  as  she 
was  beautiful,  and  she  was  so  beautiful  that 
the  princes  who  had  only  seen  her  picture  had 
wished  to  marry  her.  To  all  their  proposals 
she  answered: 

*'  As  I  have  but  one  soul  I  will  never  have 
but  one  husband.*' 

Yet  she  only  wore  mourning  for  five  years. 
Then  she  put  off  her  long  veil  and  her  black 
clothes,  for  she  did  not  like  to  depress  those 
around  her  or  to  prevent  them  smiling  or  being 
merry  in  her  presence.  Her  Duchy  included 
large  tracts  of  land,  and  lonely  moors  covered 
in  all  their  vast  extent  mth  heather;  also  lakes 
where  fishermen  caught  fish,  some  of  which  were 
magical,  and  mountains,  terrible  and  lonely, 
beneath  which  the  dwarfs  Uved  in  their  under- 
ground kingdom. 


14  BEE:     PRINCESS 

In  the  government  of  the  Clarides  she  followed 
the  advice  of  an  old  monk  who  had  escaped 
from  Constantinople.  His  belief  in  the  wisdom 
of  men  was  small,  for  he  had  seen  how  brutal 
and  perfidious  they  are.  He  lived  shut  up  in  a 
tower  with  his  birds  and  his  books,  and  there  he 
performed  his  duties  as  counsellor,  acting  ac- 
cording to  a  very  few  principles.  His  rules  were : 
*'  Not  to  revive  old  laws  ;  to  give  way  to  the 
wishes  of  the  people  for  fear  of  rebellion,  but  to 
give  way  as  slowly  as  possible,  because,  when 
one  reform  is  carried  out,  the  pubUc  immedi- 
ately demand  another.  Princes  are  deposed  for 
giving  way  too  quickly,  just  as  they  are  for 
resisting  too  long." 

The  Duchess,  understanding  nothing  at  all 
about  politics,  let  him  do  as  he  pleased.  She  was 
charitable,  and,  as  she  could  not  like  all  men, 
she  was  sorry  for  those  unfortunate  enough  to 
be  wicked.  She  helped  the  unhappy  in  every 
possible  way,  visited  the  sick,  consoled  widows, 
and  provided  for  orphans. 

She  brought  up  her  daughter  Bee  with  the 
most  charming  wisdom.  She  taught  this  child 
only  to  take  pleasure  in  doing  good,  consequently 
she  could  indulge  her  to  any  extent. 

This  amiable  lady  kept  her  promise  made  to 
the  poor  Countess  of  the  White  Moor.    She  acted 


OF  THE  DWARFS  15 

as  a  mother  to  George  and  made  no  distinction 
between  Bee  and  him.  They  grew  up  together 
and  George  found  Bee  to  his  taste,  though  rather 
small.  One  day,  when  they  were  still  in  their 
earliest  childhood,  he  came  to  her  and  said: 

"  Will  you  play  with  me?  " 

"  I  would  Uke  to,"  said  Bee. 

'*  We  will  find  some  sand  and  make  sand  pies,'' 
said  George. 

So  they  made  pies,  but  as  Bee  did  not  make 
hers  very  well,  George  hit  her  on  the  fingers 
with  his  spade.  Bee  uttered  the  most  piercing 
shrieks,  and  the  squire,  Freeheart,  who  was 
walking  in  the  gardens,  said  to  his  young  Lord: 

'*  It  is  not  a  deed  worthy  of  a  Count  of  the 
White  Moor  to  beat  young  ladies,  your  High- 
ness." 

George's  first  impulse  was  to  thrust  his  spade 
right  through  the  body  of  the  squire.  But  as  the 
difiiculties  of  this  enterprise  seemed  insuperable, 
he  fell  back  upon  an  easier  course  of  action, 
which  was  to  turn  his  face  against  a  big  tree  and 
weep  copiously. 

In  the  meanwhile.  Bee  took  good  care  to 
keep  her  tears  flowing  by  digging  her  fists  into 
her  eyes;  and,  in  her  despair,  she  flattened  her 
nose  against  the  trunk  of  a  neighbouring  tree. 
When  night  began  to  cover  the  earth,  George  and 


i6 


BEE:     PRINCESS 


Bee  were  still  weeping,  each  in  front  of  their 
tree.  The  Duchess  of  the  Clarides  had  to  take 
her  daughter  with  one  hand  and  George  with  the 
other  to  bring  them  back  to  the  castle.  Their 
eyes  were  red,  their  noses  were  red,  their  cheeks 
were  shiny;  their  sobs  and  snuffles  were  heart- 
rending. They  ate  their  supper  with  a  good 
appetite;  then  each  was  put  to  bed.  But  as 
soon  as  the  candle  was  blown  out  they  slipped 
out  of  bed  like  little  ghosts  and  kissed  each 
other  shouting  with  laughter.  So  the  loves  of 
Bee  of  the  Clarides  and  George  of  the  White 
Moor  began. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  17 


CHAPTER  in 

WHICH     DEALS     WITH     EDUCATION     IN     GENERAL, 
AND  THAT  OF  GEORGE   IN   PARTICULAR 

George  grew  up  in  this  castle  next  to  Bee, 
whom  he  called  sister  in  the  way  of  friendship, 
though  he  knew  she  was  not  so. 

He  had  masters  to  teach  him  fencing,  riding, 
swimming,  gymnastics,  dancing,  hunting,  fal- 
conry, tennis  and  generally  all  the  arts.  He  even 
had  a  writing  master,  an  old  clerk,  humble  in 
his  ways,  but  inwardly  proud,  who  taught  him 
various  styles  of  handwriting.  The  more  beau- 
tiful the  style  was,  the  more  difficult  it  was  to 
read.  George  found  little  pleasure,  and  conse- 
quently Uttle  benefit,  either  in  the  lessons  of 
this  old  clerk  or  in  those  of  an  old  monk  who 
gave  grammatical  instruction,  using  the  most 
barbarous  terminology.  George  could  not  make 
out  why  he  should  take  the  trouble  to  learn  a 
tongue  he  could  talk  by  nature,  which  is  called 
the  mother  tongue. 

The  only  person  he  liked  being  with  was  the 
squire,  Freeheart,  who,  having  sought  adven- 
tures all  over  the  world,  knew  the  customs  of 
men  and  of  beasts,  described  all  sorts  of  coun- 


i8  BEE:    PRINCESS 

tries,  and  composed  songs  he  did  not  know  how 
to  write  down.  Freeheart  was  the  only  master 
who  taught  George  anything,  because  he  was  the 
only  one  who  Uked  him,  and  affectionate  lessons 
are  the  only  good  lessons.  But  the  two  pedants, 
the  writing  master  and  the  grammatical  master, 
who  hated  each  other  with  all  their  heart,  united 
in  a  common  hatred  of  the  old  squire,  whom  they 
accused  of  inebriety. 

It  was  true  that  Freeheart  was  rather  too  fond 
of  going  to  the  tavern  called  the  Tin-jug.  There 
he  forgot  his  cares  and  composed  his  songs.  He 
was  certainly  in  the  wrong. 

Homer  composed  songs  even  better  than 
Freeheart,  and  Homer  only  drank  spring  water. 
As  to  troubles,  everybody  has  them,  and  it  is 
not  drinking  wine  but  giving  happiness  to  others 
that  effaces  them. 

But  Freeheart  was  an  old  man  grown  grey  in  the 
wars,  loyal  and  meritorious,  and  the  two  masters 
ought  to  have  hidden  his  weakness  instead  of 
reporting  them  with  exaggeration  to  the  Duchess. 

"  Freeheart  is  a  drunkard,"  said  the  writing 
master,  "  and  when  he  comes  back  from  the 
tavern  called  the  Tin- jug,  he  describes  in  the  road 
large  S's  as  he  walks.  I  may  say  that  this  is 
the  only  letter  he  has  ever  shaped,  for  this 
drunkard  is  an  ignoramus,  your  Grace." 


OF  THE  DWARFS 


19 


The  grammatical  master  added: 

"As  he  staggers  along  he  sings  songs  that 
offend  against  every  rule  and  follow  no  received 
form;  he  is  totally  ignorant  of  synecdoche, 
your  Grace." 

The  Duchess  had  a  natural  dislike  of  meanness 
and  tale-bearing.  She  did  what  all  of  us  would 
have  done  in  the  same  situation:  she  disregarded 
them  at  first,  but  as  they  kept  on  repeating  their 
reports  she  ended  by  believing  them  and  deter- 
mined to  remove  Freeheart.  However,  to  make 
Ms  exile  honourable  she  sent  him  to  Rome  to  get 
the  blessing  of  the  Pope.  What  made  this 
journey  so  long  to  the  Squire  Freeheart  was  the 
large  number  of  taverns,  haunted  by  musicians, 
-which  lay  between  the  Duchy  of  the  Clarides 
and  the  papal  city.  The  story  will  show  how 
soon  the  Duchess  was  to  regret  she  had  deprived 
the  two  children  of  their  most  reliable  protector. 


20  BEE:     PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  IV 

TELLS  HOW  THE  DUCHESS  TOOK  BEE  AND  GEORGE 
TO  THE  HERMITAGE  AND  OF  THEIR  MEETING 
AN   HIDEOUS   OLD   WOMAN   THERE 

One  morning,  that  of  the  first  Sunday  after 
Easter,  the  Duchess  issued  from  the  castle  on 
her  big  chestnut  horse,  having  on  her  left  George 
of  the  White  Moor,  riding  a  jet-black  pony  who 
had  a  white  star  in  the  middle  of  his  forehead, 
and,  on  her  right,  Bee,  who  had  a  pink  bridle 
to  govern  a  pony  with  a  cream-coloured  coat. 
They  were  going  to  hear  Mass  at  the  Hermitage. 
Soldiers  carrying  lances  escorted  them,  and 
there  was  a  press  of  people  on  the  way  to  admire 
them.  And  really  each  of  the  three  was  very 
beautiful.  The  Duchess  looked  stately  and 
sweet  under  her  veil  spangled  with  silver  flowers 
and  her  loose  cloak:  the  mild  splendour  of 
the  pearls  which  embroidered  her  headdress 
was  becoming  to  the  face  and  to  the  soul  of 
this  beautiful  person.  Next  to  her  George,  with 
his  waving  hair  and   bright  eye,  looked  quite 


OF  THE  DWARFS-  21 

handsome,  and  the  soft,  clear  colour  of  Bee's 
face,  who  was  riding  on  her  other  side,  was  a 
delicious  pleasure  to  the  eye;  but  nothing  was 
more  wonderful  than  the  flow  of  her 
fair  hair,  bound  in  a  ribbon  embroid- 
ered with  three  golden  lilies.  It  fell 
down  her  shoulders  like  the  splendid 
mantle  of  youth  and  beauty.  The 
good  folk  looked  at  her  and  each  said 
to  the  other,  "  What  a  pretty  young 
lady!  '' 

The  master  tailor,  old  John,  lifted  his  grand- 
son Peter  in  his  arms  to  show  him  Bee,  and  Peter 
asked  whether  she  was  aUve,  or  whether  she 
was  not  really  a  piece  of  waxwork.  He  could 
not  understand  that  a  creature  so  white  and 
delicate  could  belong  to  the  same  species  as  he, 
little  Peter,  did,  with  his  chubby,  sunburnt 
cheeks  and  drab  rustic  smock  laced  at  the  back. 

While  the  Duchess  received  these  marks  of 
respect  with  kindness,  the  two  children  showed 
the  contentment  of  pride,  George  in  his  flush, 
Bee  in  her  smile.  This  is  why  the  Duchess  said 
to  them: 

"  These  good  people  greet  us  very  cheerfully. 
George,  what  do  you  think  of  it?  And  what  do 
you.  Bee?  " 

"  That  they  do  well,"  said  Bee. 


22  BEE:    PRINCESS 

"  And  that  it  is  their  duty,"  said  George, 

"  And  for  what  reason  is  it  their  duty?  "  the 
Duchess  asked.  Seeing  they  gave  no  answer, 
she  continued : 

"  I  am  going  to  tell  you.  From  father  to  sop, 
for  more  than  three  hundred  years,  the  dukes  of 
the  Clarides,  lance  in  rest,  protected  these  poor 
people,  who  owe  it  to  them  that  they  can  reap 
the  harvest  they  have  sown.  For  more  than 
three  hundred  years  every  Duchess  of  the 
Clarides  has  spun  wool  for  the  poor,  visited  the 
sick,  and  held  their  babies  over  the  baptismal 
font.   That  is  why,  children,  you  are  greeted." 

George  thought:  "The  ploughman  will  have 
to  be  protected,"  and  Bee:  "  I  will  have  to  spin 
wool  for  the  poor." 

So,  conversing  and  reflecting,  they  made  their 
way  through  meadows  enamelled  with  flowers. 
A  range  of  blue  hills  ran  its  indented  line  along 
the  horizon.  George  stretched  out  his  hand 
towards  the  East. 

"  Is  not  that  a  large  shield  of  steel  that  I  see 
over  there?  " 

"It  is  rather  a  silver  buckle  as  large  as  the 
moon,"  said  Bee. 

"It  is  neither  a  shield  of  steel  nor  a  silver 
buckle,  children,"  the  Duchess  answered,  "  but  a 
lake  shining  in  the  sun.    The  face  of  the  water. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  23 

that  from  a  distance  looks  as  smooth  as  a  mirror, 
is  broken  into  innumerable  waves.  The  banks  of 
this  lake  that  seem  to  you  as  clean  as  if  they  were 
cut  out  of  metal  are  really  covered  with  reeds, 
waving  their  light  plumes,  and  with  irises,  whose 
flower  is  Uke  a  human  eye  among  drawn  swords. 
Each  morning  white  mists  cover  the  lake,  which 
shines  like  armour  under  the  midday  sun.  But 
you  must  not  go  near  it,  for  the 
Sylphs  live  there  who  draw  trav- 
ellers down  into  their  crystal 
manor." 

And  now  they  heard  the  tinkle 
of  the  Hermitage  bell. 

"  Let  us  get  off,"  said  the  Duchess,  "  and  go 
on  foot  to  the  chapel.  It  was  neither  on  their 
elephants  nor  their  camels  that  the  Wise  Men 
of  the  East  approached  the  Manger." 

They  heard  the  Hermit's  Mass.  An  old  woman, 
hideous  and  in  rags,  knelt  next  to  the  Duchess, 
who  offered  her  holy  water  as  they  went  out  of 
church,  and  said: 

"  Take  some,  my  good  woman." 

George  was  astonished. 

"  Do  you  not  know,"  said  the  Duchess,  "  that 
you  must  honour  the  poor  as  the  favourites  of 
Jesus  Christ?  A  beggar  woman  just  like  this  one 
held  you  over  the  baptismal  font  with  the  good 


24  BEE:    PRINCESS 

Duke  of  the  Black  Rocks,  and  similarly  your 
little  sister  Bee  had  a  beggar  as  a  godfather." 

The  old  woman,  who  had  guessed  the  feelings 
of  the  little  boy,  leaned  towards  him,  leering,  and 
said: 

"  I  wish  you  the  conquest  of  as  many  king- 
doms as  I  have  lost,  my  prince.  I  have  been 
Queen  of  the  Island  of  Pearls  and  of  the  Moun- 
tains of  Gold;  every  day  I  had  fourteen  different 
kinds  of  fish  served  at  my  table,  and  a  little 
blackamoor  to  carry  my  train." 

"  And  by  what  misfortune  did  you  lose  your 
islands  and  your  mountains,  my  good  woman?  " 
asked  the  Duchess. 

"  I  offended  the  dwarfs,  who  have  carried  me 
off  from  my  States." 

"Have  the  dwarfs  so  much  power?  "  asked 
George. 

"  Living  under  the  earth,"  the  old  woman  said, 
"  they  know  the  virtue  of  stones,  fashion  metal, 
and  discover  springs." 

The  Duchess: 

"  And  what  did  you  do  to  vex  them,  good 
mother?  " 

The  old  woman : 

"  On  a  night  of  December  one  of  them  came  to 
me  to  ask  my  permission  to  prepare  a  great  New 
Year's   supper  in   the   kitchens   of   the   castle. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  25 

which  were  larger  than  a  capitular  hall,  and 
furnished  with  stew  and  preserving  and  frying 
pans,  pipkins,  caldrons,  boilers,  ovens,  gridirons, 
porringers,  dripping-pans,  meat  screens,  fish- 
kettles,  pastry-moulds,  jugs,  goblets 
of  gold  and  silver  and  of  grained 
woods,  not  to  speak  of  the  turnspit 
skilfully  wrought  of  iron,  and  the 
huge  black  kettle  hanging  to  the 
pothook.  He  promised  that  nothing 
should  be  lost  or  damaged.  I  refused 
his  request,  and  he  withdrew  muttering  dark 
threats.  Three  nights  after,  which  was  that  of 
Christmas,  the  same  dwarf  returned  to  the 
room  in  which  I  was  sleeping;  he  was  accom- 
panied by  a  multitude  of  others,  who  pulled  me 
from  my  bed,  and  carried  me  off  in  my  night- 
shirt to  an  unknown  land. 

"  This,"  they  said  to  me  on  leaving,  "  this  is 
the  punishment  of  rich  people  who  will  not 
grant  a  portion  of  their  treasures  to  the  indus- 
trious and  gentle  nation  of  Dwarfs,  who  fashion 
gold  and  cause  the  springs  to  flow." 

So  spoke  the  toothless  old  woman,  and  the 
Duchess,  having  comforted  her  with  words  and 
money,  again  took  the  road  to  the  Castle  with 
her  two  children. 


26  BEE:     PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  V 

IS   CONCERNED   WITH   WHAT   YOU   SEE   FROM   THE 
KEEP  OF  THE  CLARIDES 

One  day,  not  long  after  this,  Bee  and  George, 
without  being  seen,  climbed  up  the  stairs  of 
the  Keep  which  rises  in  the  middle  of  the  castle. 
On  reaching  the  platform  they  shouted  loudly 
and  clapped  their  hands.  The  view  stretched 
over  rolUng  downs,  cultivated  and  cut  up  into 
small  green  and  brown  squares.  On  the  horizon 
they  could  see  hills  and  woods — blue  in  the 
distance. 

"  Little  sister,"  cried  George,  "  Httle  sister, 
look  at  the  whole  earth." 

*'  It  is  very  big,"  said  Bee. 

"  My  professor,"  said  George,  "  had  taught  me 
that  it  was  big,  but  as  Gertrude  our  governess 
says,  seeing  is  believing." 

They  walked  round  the  platform. 

"  Here  is  a  marvellous  thing,  Uttle  brother," 
said  Bee.  "  The  castle  is  in  the  middle  of  the 
whole  earth,   and  we,   who   are  on  the   Keep, 


OF  THE  DWARFS  27 

which  is  in  the  middle  of  the  castle,  are  now  in 
the  middle  of  the  whole  world.    Ha!   ha!   ha!  " 

And  really  the  skyUne  was  around  the  children 
like  a  circle  of  which  the  Keep  was  the  centre. 

"  We  are  in  the  middle  of  the  world.  Ha!  ha! 
ha!  "  George  repeated. 

Then  both  began  to  think. 

"  What  a  pity  it  is  that  the  world  is  so  big!  " 
said  Bee.  "  You  can  lose  yourself  in  it  and  be 
separated  from  your  friends." 

George  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  How  nice  it  is  that  the  world  is  so  big!  You 
can  look  for  adventures  in  it.  Bee,  when  I  am 
gro^\Ti  up  I  mean  to  conquer  those  mountains 
which  are  right  at  the  end  of  the  earth.  It  is 
there  that  the  moon  rises.  I  will  catch  it  as  I  go 
•  along  and  give  it  to  you,  my  Bee." 

"  That's  it,"  said  Bee;  "  you  will  give  it  to  me 
and  I  will  set  it  in  my  hair." 

Then  they  began  to  look  for  the  places  they 
knew  as  if  on  a  map. 

"  I  know  perfectly  where  we  are,"  said  Bee 
(who  knew  nothing  of  the  sort),  "  but  I  cannot 
guess  what  all  those  little  square  stones  sown 
on  the  side  of  the  hill  are." 

"Houses!"  answered  George;  "those  are 
houses!  Don't  you  recognise,  little  sister,  the 
capital  of  the  Duchy  of  the  Clarides?    It  is  quite 


28 


BEE:     PRINCESS 


a  big  town;  it  has  three  streets,  of  which  one  is 
paved.  We  passed  through  it  last  week  to  go 
to  the  Hermitage.    Don't  you  remember  it?  " 

"  And  that  winding  stream  ? " 
"  That's  the  river.    Look  at 
the     old    stone     bridge    over 
there." 

"  The    bridge    under  which 
we  fished  for  lobsters?  " 
"  The  very  one,  which  has  in  the  recess  the 
statue  of  the  '  Headless  Woman,'  but  you  cannot 
see  her  from  here  because  she  is  too  small." 
"  I  remember.    Why  has  she  no  head?  " 
"  Probably  because  she  has  lost  it." 
Without     saying    whether     the     explanation 
satisfied  her.   Bee  kept  her  eyes  fixed  on  the 
distance. 

"  Little  brother,  little  brother,  do  you  see 
what  is  shining  near  the  blue  mountains?  It  is 
the  lake." 

*' It's  the  lake!" 

They  now  remembered  what  the  Duchess  had 
told  them  of  the  lovely  and  dangerous  waters, 
where  the  Sylphs  had  their  manor. 
"  Let  us  go  there,"  said  Bee. 
This  decision  overwhelmed  George,  who  gaped 
and  said : 

"  The  Duchess  has  forbidden  us  to  go  out 


OF  THE  DWARFS  29 

alone,  and  how  can  we  get  to  this  lake,  which 
is  at  the  end  of  the  world?  " 

"  How  to  get  there  I  really  don't  know,  but 
you  ought  to,  who  are  a  man  and  have  a  grammar 
master." 

George  was  stung,  and  answered  that  it  is 
possible  to  be  a  man,  and  even  a  fine  man, 
without  knowing  all  the  roads  in  the  world.  Bee 
gave  him  a  mincing,  disdainful  look,  made  him 
blush  to  the  tips  of  his  ears,  and  said  to  him  primly  : 

"  I  am  not  the  one  who  promised  to  conquer 
the  blue  mountains  and  to  unhook  the  moon. 
I  do  not  know  the  road  to  the  lake,  but  I  will 
find  it;  you  see!  " 

"  Ha!  ha!  ha!  "  said  George,  trying  to  laugh. 

"  You  laugh  like  a  booby,  sir.'* 

*'  Bee,  boobies  neither  laugh  nor  cry." 

"  If  they  did  they  would  laugh  like  you.  I 
will  go  to  the  lake  alone.  And  while  I  discover 
the  lovely  waters  where  the  Sylphs  live,  you 
can  stay  at  the  castle  all  by  yourself  like  a  little 
girl.  I  will  leave  you  my  tapestry  frame  and 
my  doll.  Please  take  great  care  of  them,  George; 
please  take  great  care  of  them." 

George  had  pride.  He  felt  the  shame  which 
Bee  put  upon  him.  With  his  head  down,  darkly, 
he  cried  in  a  muffled  voice: 

"  All  right!  we  will  go  to  the  lake!  " 


30  BEE:    PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  VI 

TELLS  HOW  BEE  AND  GEORGE  WENT  OFF  TO 
THE  LAKE 

Next  day,  after  lunch,  when  the  Duchess  had 
retired  to  her  room,  George  took  Bee  by  the 
hand. 

"  Come  along,''  he  said  to  her. 

"Where?  " 

''Hush!" 

They  went  down  the  stairs  and  crossed  the 
courts.  When  they  had  passed  the  gate  Bee 
asked  a  second  time  where  they  were  going. 

"  To  the  lake,"  George  answered  decisively. 

The  mouth  of  the  stupefied  Miss  Bee  gaped. 
Was  it  sensible  to  go  that  distance,  and  in  satin 
sUppers?   For  her  sUppers  were  of  satin. 

"  We  must  go  there,  and  we  need  not  be 
sensible." 

Such  was  the  lofty  answer  given  by  George 
to  Bee.  She  had  put  him  to  shame,  and  now  she 
pretended  to  be  astonished.  It  was  now  his  turn 
to  refer  her  disdainfully  to  her  doll.    Girls  goad 


OF  THE  DWARFS  31 

a  man  into  adventures,  and  then  draw  back. 
Her  behaviour  was  disgraceful.  She  might  stay 
behind,  but  he  would  go  himself. 

She  took  him  by  the  arm.  He  pushed  her 
away.  She  flung  herself  round  the  neck  of  her 
brother. 

"  little  brother!  "  she  said  sobbing,  "  I  will 
follow  you." 

Her  repentance  was  complete,  and  it  moved 
him. 

"  Come  along,"  he  said,  "  but  do  not  let  us 
go  by  the  town,  we  might  be  seen.  We  had 
better  follow  the  ramparts  and  reach  the  high 
road  by  a  short  cut." 

They  went  holding  each  other  by  the  hand. 
George  explained  the  scheme  he  had  drawn  up. 

"  We  will  follow  the  road  we  took  to  go  to  the 
Hermitage;  we  are  certain  to  see  it  as  we  saw  it 
last  time,  and  then  we  will  go  straight  to  it 
across  the  field  in  a  bee-line." 

In  a  bee-hne  is  a  pretty  country  way  of  saying 
a  straight  line,  but  the  name  of  the  Uttle  maid 
occurring  quaintly  in  the  idiom  made  them 
laugh. 

Bee  picked  flowers  growing  by  the  ditch: 
flowers  of  the  mallow  and  the  mullein,  asters 
and  oxeyes,  making  a  posy  of  them;  the  flowers 
faded  visibly  in  her  little  hands,  and  they  looked 


32  BEE:     PRINCESS 

pitiful  when  Bee  crossed  the  stone  bridge.  As 
she  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  her  posy,  the 
idea  occurred  to  her  of  throwing  them  in  the 
water  to  refresh  them,  but  she  preferred  to  give 
them  to  the  "  Headless  Woman." 

She  asked  George  to  Uft  her  in  his  arms  to 
make  her  tall  enough,  and  she  placed  her  hand- 
ful of  country  flowers  in  the  folded  hands  of  the 
old  stone  figure. 

At  a  distance  she  turned  her  head  and  saw  a 
dove  on  the  shoulder  of  the  statue. 

They  walked  some  time,  and  Bee  said: 

"  I  am  thirsty." 

"  So  am  I,"  said  George,  "  but  the  river  is  far 
behind  us,  and  I  can  see  neither  stream  nor 
spring." 

"  The  sun  is  so  hot,  it  must  have  drunk  them 
all  up;  what  shall  we  do?  " 

Thus  they  talked  and  complained,  when  they 
saw  a  countrywoman  with  a  basket  full  of  fruit. 

"  Cherries,"  cried  George.  "  What  a  pity  it  is 
that  I  have  no  money  to  buy  any!  " 

"  I  have  some  money,"  said  Bee. 

She  drew  out  of  her  pocket  a  purse  with  five 
pieces  of  gold  in  it,  and  addressed  the  country- 
woman. 

'*  Good  woman,"  she  said,  "  will  you  give  me 
as  many  cherries  as  my  dress  can  carry." 


OF  THE  DWARFS  33 

As  she  spoke  she  held  out  the  skirt  of  her 
frock  with  both  hands.  The  countrywoman 
threw  two  or  three  handfuls  of  cherries  into  it. 
Bee  took  the  fold  of  her  skirt  in  one  hand  and 
with  the  other  held  out  a  piece  of  gold  to  the 
woman  and  said: 

"Is  that  enough,  that?  " 

The  countrywoman  seized  the  piece  of  gold, 
which  would  have  been  a  high  price  for  all  the 
cherries  in  the  basket,  with  the  tree  on  which 
they  had  grown,  and  the  orchard  in  which  the 
tree  was  planted,  and  she  cunningly  answered: 

"  That  will  do  to  oblige  you,  my  Httle  Princess." 

"  Then,"  replied  Bee,  "  put  some  more  cherries 
in  my  brother's  hat,  and  I  will  give  you  another 
gold  piece." 

This  was  done  and  the  countrj^woman  pursued 
her  way,  thinking  of  the  old  stocking  under  the 
mattress  in  which  she  was  to  hide  her  two  pieces 
of  gold.  And  the  two  children  went  on  their 
road  eating  the  cherries,  and  throwing  the  stones 
to  the  right  and  the  left.  George  looked  for 
cherries  held  together  in  pairs  by  the  stalk  to 
make  earrings  of  them  for  his  sister,  and  he 
laughed  to  see  the  beautiful  vermeil-coloured 
twin  fruit  swinging  on  the  cheek  of  Bee. 

A  pebble  checked  their  joyful  progress.  It 
had  stuck  in  the  slipper  of  Bee,  who  began  to 


34  BEE:     PRINCESS 

limp.  At  each  hop  she  took  her  gold  curls  waved 
on  her  cheeks,  and  limping  thus,  she  went  and 
sat  down.  There  her  brother,  kneeling  at  her 
feet,  took  off  her  satin  sUpper;  he  shook  it,  and 
a  little  white  pebble  rolled  out. 

Then  looking  at  her  feet,  she  said: 

"  Little  brother,  when  we  go  again  to  the  lake, 
we  will  put  on  boots." 

The  sun  had  by  now  decHned  in  the  radiant 
sky.  A  breath  of  wind  fanned  the  necks  and 
the  cheeks  of  the  young  travellers  who  boldly, 
and  with  fresh  alacrity,  pursued  their  travels. 
To  walk  more  easily,  they  held  each  other  by 
the  hand  and  sang,  and  they  laughed  to  see  their 
two  black  shadows,  likewise  united,  moving  in 
front  of  them.     They  sang: 

Marian  the  maid, 

Demure  and  staid, 
Went  riding  to  the  mill. 

She  placed  her  load  . 

Of  com,  and  rode 
Upon  her  donkey  Bill. 

But  Bee  stops.    She  cries: 
"  I  have  lost  my  slipper,  my  satin  slipper." 
And  it  was  as  she  said.    The  silk  bows  of  the 
little  slipper  had  got  loose  as  she  walked,  and  it 
lay  all  dusty  in  the  road. 
Then  she  looked  behind  her,  and  seeing  the 


OF  THE  DWARFS  35 

towers  of  the  castle  swimming  in  the  distant 
mist,  she  felt  a  pang,  and  tears  came  into  her 
eyes. 

*'  The  wolves  will  eat  us,"  she  said,  "  and  our 
mother  will  never  see  us  again,  and  she  will 
die  of  grief." 

But  George  brought  her  slipper  to  her  and 
said : 

"  When  the  castle  bell  rings  for  supper,  we 
will  be  back  at  the  Clarides.  Forward!  " 

The  miller  tight, 

With  flour  white, 
Stood  close  under  the  mill,. 

And  fair  and  free. 

Cried,  *'  To  that  tree 
Tie  up  your  donkey  Bill." 

*'  The  lake.  Bee,  look:  the  lake,  the  lake,  the 
lake." 

"  Yes,  George,  the  lake!  " 

George  cried  hurrah !  and  threw  his  hat  in  the 
air.  Bee  was  too  well  behaved  to  throw  up  her 
coif  in  the  same  fashion.  But  taking  off  her 
slipper  which  barely  held,  she  threw  it  over  her 
head  to  show  her  joy.  There  it  was,  the  lake, 
at  the  bottom  of  the  valley  the  slopes  of  which 
ran  round  the  silvery  waters,  holding  them  as 
in  a  cup  of  foliage  and  flowers.  There  it  was, 
calm  and  clear,  and  a  shiver  still  ran  over  the 


36  BEE:    PRINCESS 

ruffled  grasses  of  its  banks.  But  the  two  children 
could  not  discover  any  road  in  the  thickets  to 
take  them  to  this  lovely  mere.  As  they  searched, 
their  legs  were  bitten  by  geese,  who  were  followed 
by  a  little  girl,  dressed  in  a  sheepskin,  with  a 
switch  in  her  hand.  George  asked  her  what 
she  was  called. 

"  Gill/' 

*'  Well,  Gill,  how  do  you  go  to  the  lake?  " 

''  I  don't  go." 

"  Why?  " 

"  Because." 

"But  if  you  did  go?  " 

"  If  I  did  go,  there  would  be  a  road,  and  I 
would  take  the  road." 

There  was  no  answer  to  be  given  to  the  goose- 
girl. 

"  All  right,"  said  George,  "  we  will  certainly 
find  a  path  in  the  wood  further  on." 

"  We  will  pick  nuts  there,"  said  Bee,  "  and  eat 
them,  for  I  am  hungry.  We  must,  when  we  come 
again  to  the  lake,  bring  a  bag  full  of  things  good 
to  eat." 

George: 

"  We  will  do  as  you  say,  little  sister.  I  now 
approve  the  plan  of  the  squire  Freeheart,  who, 
when  he  set  out  for  Rome,  took  with  him  a  ham 
for  hunger  and  a  demijohn  for  thirst.     But  we 


OF  THE  DWARFS  37 

must  hurry,  for  it  seems  to  me  it  is  getting  late, 
though  I  do  not  know  the  time." 

"  Shepherdesses  know  it  by  looking  at  the 
sun,''  said  Bee;  "  but  I  am  not  a  shepherdess. 
Yet  it  seems  to  me  that  this  sun,  which  was  above 
our  heads  when  we  started,  is  now  over  there, 
far  behind  the  town  and  the  land  of  the  Clarides. 
I  wish  I  knew  whether  this  is  the  case  every 
day,  and  what  it  means." 

While  they  thus  observed  the  sun  a  cloud  of 
dust  rose  on  the  road,  and  they  saw  horsemen, 
who  moved  towards  them  at  full  gallop  and  whose 
armour  glittered.  The  children  were  very  fright- 
ened and  went  and  hid  in  the  underwoods.  They 
are  robbers,  or  rather  ogres,  they  thought. 
But  really  they  were  men-at-arms  sent  by  the 
Duchess  of  Clarides  to  search  for  the  two  little 
adventurers. 

The  two  little  adventurers  found  a  narrow  path 
in  the  underwood  which  was  not  a  lover's  path, 
for  two  could  not  walk  side  by  side  holding  each 
other  by  the  hand,  as  lovers  do.  Further,  the 
footprints  were  not  human.  Only  a  track  made 
by  a  multitude  of  Uttle  hoofed  feet  was  visible. 

"  These  are  the  footprints  of  elves,"  said  Bee. 

*'  Or  roedeer,"  said  George. 

The  problem  is  as  yet  unsolved.  But  what  is 
certain  is  that  the  path  led  by  an  easy  descent  to 


38  BEE:     PRINCESS 

the  edge  of  the  lake,  which  now  unfolded  itself  to 
the  children  in  all  its  languid  and  silent  beauty. 
Willows  bent  their  tender  foliage  over  it.  Reeds, 
like  pliant  swords,  swayed  their  delicate  plumes 
on  the  water.  They  stood  ruffling  in  islands,  and 
around  them  the  water-Hlies  spread  their  broad 
heart-shaped  leaves  and  their  pure  white  flowers. 
Over  the  flowering  islands  shrill  dragon-flies 
flew,  whirling  and  darting,  with  emerald  or 
sapphire  breastplates  and  wings  of  flame. 

And  the  two  children  enjoyed  the  exquisite 
pleasure  of  dipping  their  burning  feet  into  the 
wet  gravel  where  the  thyme  grew  thick  and  the 
cattail  darted  its  long  spikes.  From  its  lowly 
stem  the  iris  yielded  them  its  scent;  all  around 
the  ribwort  unrolled  its  lace  on  the  edge  of  the 
sleeping  waters  which  were  studded  with  the 
loosestrife's  purple  flowers. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  39 


CHAPTER  Vn 

SHOWS  THE  PENALTY  GEORGE  OF  THE  WHITE 
MOOR  PAID  FOR  HAVING  GONE  NEAR  TO  THE 
LAKE  WHERE  LIVE  THE  SYLPHS 

Bee  went  forward  on  the  gravel  between  two 
clumps  of  willows,  and  in  front  of  her  the  Uttle 
genius  of  the  place  jumped  into  the  water  and 
made  rings  on  its  surface,  which  grew  larger 
and  larger  till  they  vanished.  This  genius  was 
a  little  green  frog  with  a  white  stomach.  All  was 
silent:  A  fresh  breath  of  wind  swept  over  that 
clear  lake,  of  which  each  wave  rose  in  a  gracious 
and  smiHng  fold. 

"  This  is  a  pretty  lake,"  said  Bee,  "  but  my 
feet  are  bleeding  in  my  Httle  torn  sUppers,  and  I 
am  very  hungry.    I  wish  I  was  in  the  castle." 

*'  Little  sister,"  said  George,  "  sit  on  the  grass. 
I  am  going  to  wrap  your  feet  in  leaves  to  cool 
them;  then  I  will  go  and  look  for  supper  for 
you.  I  saw  up  there,  close  to  the  road,  briars 
black  with  berries.  I  will  bring  you  the  largest 
and  sweetest  in  my  hat.     Give  me  your  hand- 


40  BEE:    PRINCESS 

kerchief,  I  will  fill  it  with  strawberries,  for  there 
are  plants  close  by  the  edge  of  the  path,  under 
the  shade  of  the  trees.  And  I  will  fill  my  pockets 
with  nuts." 

He  made  a  bed  of  moss  for  Bee  near  the  side  of 
the  lake,  under  a  willow,  and  went  off. 

Bee  lay  with  clasped  hands  on  her  bed  of  moss, 
and  saw  the  stars  kindle  their  tremulous  fights 
in  the  pale  sky;  then  her  eyes  half  shut;  yet  she 
seemed  to  see  in  the  air  a  little  dwarf  riding  on  a 
crow.  This  was  not  an  illusion.  The  dwarf  drew 
the  bridle  in  the  mouth  of  the  black  bird,  stopped 
above  the  little  girl,  and  fixed  his  round  eyes  on 
her.  Then  he  struck  his  spurs,  and  went  off  at 
full  flight.  Bee  saw  these  things  confusedly  and 
went  to  sleep. 

She  was  sleeping  when  George  came  back  with 
his  harvest,  which  he  put  next  to  her.  He  then 
went  down  to  the  edge  of  the  lake  to  wait  till 
she  woke.  The  lake  was  sleeping  under  its  delicate 
crown  of  leafage.  A  Ught  mist  softly  crept  over 
it.  All  at  once  the  moon  showed  itself  between 
the  branches  and  immediately  the  waters  were 
strewn  with  points  of  light. 

George  plainly  saw  that  the  lights  which 
glanced  on  the  waters  were  not  all  broken  re- 
flections of  the  moon,  for  he  noticed  blue  flames 
which  came  whirling  nearer,  and  rose  and  fell 


OF  THE  DWARFS  41 

and  swayed  as  if  they  were  dancing  rounds.  He 
soon  discerned  that  these  flames  flickered  on 
white  foreheads,  on  the  foreheads  of  women. 
In  a  short  time  lovely  heads  crowned  with  weed 
and  shell,  shoulders  down  which  fell  blue  hair, 
bosoms  guttering  with  pearls  and  from  which 
veils  were  sliding,  rose  above  the  waves.  The 
boy  recognised  the  Sylphs,  and  tried  to  fly.  But 
already  pale,  cold  arms  had  seized  him,  and  he 
was  being  carried,  in  spite  of  his  struggles  and 
screams,  through  the  waters,  in  halls  of  crystal 
and  porphyry. 


/ 


42  BEE:    PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SHOWS  HOW   BEE  WAS  TAKEN   TO   THE 
LAND   OF  THE   DWARFS 

The  moon  had  risen  above  the  lake,  and  only 
the  broken  fragments  of  its  orb  were  reflected 
in  the  water.  Bee  still  slept.  The  dwarf  who 
had  examined  her  came  back  on  his  crow.  This 
time  he  was  followed  by  a  troop  of  little  men. 
They  were  very  little  men.  They  had  white 
beards  reaching  down  to  their  knees.  They  were 
the  size  of  children,  but  they  had  old  faces. 
The  leather  aprons  and  the  hammers  which  they 
carried  hanging  at  their  belts  made  it  evident 
they  were  metal-workers.  They  moved  in  a 
strange  way  by  jumping  to  a  great  height 
and  turning  wonderful  somersaults;  this  in- 
credible nimbleness  made  them  less  like  men 
than  spirits.  But  in  their  wildest  antics  their 
faces  remained  unalterably  grave,  so  that  it 
was  impossible  to  make  out  their  real  character. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  43 

They  placed  themselves  in  a  circle  round  the 
sleeper. 

*'  Well,"  said  the  smallest  of  the  dwarfs  from 
the  height  of  his  feathered  mount;  ''well,  I 
did  not  deceive  you  when  I  warned  you  that 
the  prettiest  of  princesses  was  sleeping  on  the 
edge  of  the  lake,  and  do  you  not  thank  me  for 
having  shown  her  to  you?  " 

"  We  thank  you,  Bob,"  answered  one  of  the 
dwarfs,  who  looked  like  an  old  poet;  "truly, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  world  as  pretty  as  this 
maiden.  Her  complexion  is  rosier  than  the 
dawn  upon  the  mountains,  and  the  gold  of 
our  smithies  is  not  as  bright  as  that  of  her 
tresses." 

"  It  is  true,  Pic;  Pic,  nothing  could  be  more 
true!  "  answered  the  dwarfs;  "but  what  shall 
we  do  with  this  pretty  maid?  " 

Pic,  who  resembled  an  old  poet,  did  not 
answer  this  question  of  the  dwarfs,  because  he 
did  not  know  more  than  they  did  what  to  do 
with  the  pretty  maid. 

A  dwarf,  named  Rug,  said  to  them: 

"  Let  us  build  a  large  cage  and  we  will  shut 
her  in  it." 

Another  dwarf,  named  Dig,  opposed  this 
suggestion  of  Rug.  According  to  Dig,  only  wild 
beasts  were  put  in  cages,  and  as  yet  there  was 


44  BEE:    PRINCESS 

nothing  to  indicate  that  the  pretty  maiden  was 
one  of  them. 

But  Rug  was  taken  with  his  own  idea,  for 
want  of  another  to  put  in  its  place.  He  ingeni- 
ously defended  it : 

"If  this  person,"  he  said,  "is  not  wild,  she 
will  doubtlessly  become  so  by  being  shut  in  the 
cage,  which  will  consequently  become  useful, 
and  even  indispensable/' 

This  argument  displeased  the  dwarfs,  and 
one  of  them,  named  Tad,  denounced  it  indig- 
nantly. He  was  a  dwarf  of  utmost  goodness. 
He  proposed  taking  back  the  beautiful  girl  to 
her  parents,  whom  he  thought  to  be  powerful 
lords. 

This  view  of  the  good  Tad  was  rejected  as 
contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  dwarfs. 

"  Justice  should  prevail,"  Tad  went  on  to 
say,  **  and  not  custom." 

He  was  no  longer  listened  to;  the  crowd  had 
fallen  into  disorder  and  tumult,  when  a  dwarf, 
called  Paw,  who  was  simple,  but  sensible,  gave 
his  views  as  follows: 

"  We  must  first  wake  the  maiden,  as  she  does 
not  wake  of  herself.  If  she  spends  the  night  Hke 
this,  to-morrow  her  eyelids  will  be  swollen  and 
her  beauty  will  be  less,  for  it  is  very  unhealthy 
to  sleep  in  a  wood  on  the  edge  of  a  lake." 


OF  THE  DWARFS  45 

This  opinion  met  with  general  approval, 
because  it  was  not  opposed  to  any  other. 

Pic,  who  resembled  an  old  poet  over- 
whelmed with  misfortune,  went  near  to  the 
little  maid  and  gazed  on  her  gravely,  with  the 
idea  that  a  single  one  of  his  looks  would  suf- 
fice to  rouse  the  sleeper  from  the  deepest  sleep. 
But  Pic  over-estimated  the  power  of  his  eyes, 
and  Bee  continued  to  sleep  with  her  hands 
clasped. 

Seeing  this,  the  good  Tad  gently  pulled  her 
sleeve.  Then  she  opened  her  eyes  and  raised 
herself  on  her  elbow.  Seeing  herself  on  a  moss- 
couch,  surrounded  by  dwarfs,  she  thought  that 
what  she  saw  was  a  dream,  and  she  rubbed  her 
eyes  to  open  them  and  to  let  in,  instead  of 
this  fantastic  vision,  the  bright  early  morn- 
ing light  streaming  into  her  blue  room,  where 
she  imagined  herself  to  be.  For  her  mind, 
numb  with  sleep,  did  not  recall  the  adventure 
of  the  lake.  But  rub  her  eyes  as  she  might, 
the  dwarfs  stayed  there;  she  had  to  believe 
they  were  real.  Then,  looking  round  anxiously, 
she  saw  the  forest,  her  memory  returned,  she 
cried  in  agony: 

"  George!    my  brother  George!  " 

The  dwarfs  pressed  round  her,  and,  for  fear  of 
seeing  them,  she  hid  her  face  in  her  hands. 


46  BEE:    PRINCESS 

"George!  George!  where  is  my  brother 
George?  "  she  cried  sobbing. 

The  dwarfs  did  not  tell  her,  and  for  this  reason, 
that  they  did  not  know.  So  she  wept  bitterly, 
calling  on  her  mother  and  her  brother. 

Paw  felt  inclined  to  cry  like  her;  but  anxious 
to  console  her,  he  spoke  a  few  vague  words. 

"  Do  not  alarm  yourself,"  he  said.  *'  It  would 
be  a  pity  if  such  a  beautiful  lady  spoilt  her  eyes 
by  crying.  But  rather  tell  us  your  history;  it 
is  certain  to  be  interesting.  It  would  give  us  the 
very  greatest  pleasure." 

She  was  not  Hstening.  She  rose  and  tried  to 
run  away.  But  her  swollen,  naked  feet  gave  her 
such  sharp  pain  that  she  fell  on  her  knee  and 
burst  into  still  more  violent  sobs.  Tad  held  her 
up  in  his  arms,  and  Paw  gently  kissed  her  hand. 
This  is  why  she  dared  to  look  and  saw  that  their 
faces  were  compassionate.  Pic  seemed  to  be  an 
inspired  but  innocent  creature,  and  noticing 
that  all  the  little  men  looked  upon  her  with 
kindliness,  she  said  to  them : 

"  Little  men,  it  is  a  pity  you  are  so  ugly;  but 
I  will  like  you  all  the  same  if  you  will  give  me 
something  to  eat,  for  I  am  hungry." 

'*  Bob!  "  all  the  dwarfs  cried  at  the  same  tinle, 
"  fetch  some  supper." 

And  Bob  went  off  on  his  crow.   Still  the  dwarfs 


OF  THE  DWARFS  47 

felt  that  this  Uttle  girl  had  been  guilty  of  an 
injustice  in  considering  them  ugly.  Rug  was 
extremely  angry.  Pic  said  to  himself,  "  She  is 
only  a  child,  and  does  not  see  the  fire  of  genius 
burning  in  my  looks  so  as  to  give  them  alternately 
masterful  strength  and  fascinating  grace."  Paw 
thought,  ''  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better 
not  to  wake  this  young  lady  who  considers  us 
ugly."    But  Tad  said,  smiling: 

"  You  will  consider  us  less  ugly.  Miss,  when 
you  like  us  better." 

At  these  words  Bob  reappeared  on  his  crow. 
He  brought  a  roast  part- 
ridge on  a  gold  dish,  with 
a  loaf  of  meal  bread  and 
a  bottle  of  red  wine.  He 
placed  this  supper  at  the 
feet  of  Bee,  turning  an  endless  number  of 
somersaults. 

Bee  ate  and  said: 

''  Little  men,  your  supper  is  very  good.  My 
name  is  Bee ;  let  us  look  for  my  brother,  and  go 
together  to  the  Clarides,  where  Mama  is  waiting 
for  us  in  a  state  of  great  anxiety." 

But  Dig,  who  was  a  good  dwarf,  urged  on  Bee 
that  she  was  incapable  of  walking;  that  her 
brother  was  old  enough  to  find  himself;  that  no 
accident  could  happen  to  him  in  this  country, 


48  ,  BEE:    PRINCESS 

where  all  wild  beasts  had  been  destroyed.  He 
added: 

"  We  will  make  a  stretcher,  we  will  cover  it 
with  a  Utter  of  leaves  and  mosses,  we  will  place 
you  on  it,  we  will  carry  you  thus  into  the 
mountain,  to  introduce  you  to  the  King  of 
the  dwarfs,  as  the  custom  of  our  people 
requires." 

AH  the  dwarfs  applauded.  Bee  looked  at  her 
sore  feet  and  was  silent. 

She  was  relieved  to  hear  there  were  no  wild 
beasts  in  the  country.  In  all  other  matters  she 
rehed  on  the  friendship  of  the  dwarfs. 

Already  they  were  constructing  the  stretcher. 
Those  who  had  axes  were  hacking  away  at  the 
stems  of  two  young  pines. 

This  revived  his  idea  in  the  head  of  Rug. 

"  If,  instead  of  a  stretcher,"  he  said,  "we  built 
a  cage?  " 

But  he  raised  a  unanimous  protest.  Tad, 
looking  at  him  with  contempt,  exclaimed: 

*'  Rug,  you  are  more  like  a  man  than  a  dwarf. 
But  this,  at  least,  is  to  the  credit  of  our  race 
that  the  wickedest  of  the  dwarfs  is  also  the 
stupidest." 

Meanwhile,  the  work  went  on.  The  dwarfs 
leapt  in  the  air  to  reach  branches  which  they  cut 
in  their  flight,  and  out  of  which  they  neatly 


OF  THE  DWARFS 


49 


built  a  lattice  chair.  Having  covered  it  with 
moss  and  dry  leaves,  they  made  Bee  sit  there; 
then,  all  together,  they  seized  the  two  poles,  up! 
hoisted  it  on  their  shoulders,  and  swung  off  to 
the  mountain. 


50  BEE:    PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  IX 

TELLS   FAITHFULLY  THE   WELCOME   GIVEN   BY 
KING   LOG   TO   BEE   OF  THE   CLARIDES 

They  ascended  the  woody  side  of  the  hill  by  a 
tortuous  path.  Here  and  there  blocks  of  granite, 
bare  and  rusty,  rose  in  the  grey  foliage  of  the 
dwarf  oaks,  and  the  rugged  landscape  was 
enclosed  by  russet  hills  and  their  blue-grey 
ravines. 

The  procession,  preceded  by  Bob  on  his  winged 
steed,  entered  a  cleft  of  the  rocks  hung  with 
briar.  Bee,  with  her  golden  hair  scattered  on 
her  shoulders,  looked  Uke  the  dawn  risen  on  the 
mountains,  if  it  is  true  that  sometimes  the  dawn 
gets  frightened,  calls  for  her  mother,  and  tries 
to  run  away,  for  these  three  events  occurred 
when  the  little  girl  dimly  saw  dwarfs  terribly 
armed  lurking  in  all  crevices  of  the  cUff. 

They  held  themselves  motionless  with  their 
bows  strung  and  levelled  lances.  Their  tunics 
of  hide  and  long  knives  hanging  at  their  belts 
gave  them  a  terrible  appearance.    Game  of  fur 


OF  THE  DWARFS  51 

and  feather  lay  at  their  feet.  But  these  hunters, 
as  far  as  their  faces  went,  did  not  look  fierce; 
on  the  contrary,  they  seemed  mild  and  grave 
Uke  the  dwarfs  of  the  forest,  whom  they  very 
much  resembled. 

Upright  in  their  midst  stood  a  dwarf  of  great 
majesty.  He  wore  a  cock's  feather  at  his  ear,  and 
on  his  forehead  a  diadem  studded  with  enormous 
jewels.  His  mantle  was  flung  over  his  shoulder 
showing  a  robust  arm,  loaded  with  gold  rings.  A 
bugle  of  ivory  and  carved  silver  hung  at  his  belt. 
He  leant  his  left  hand  upon  his  lance  in  an  attitude 
of  repose  and  strength,  and  with  the  right  he 
shielded  his  eye  to  look  towards  Bee  and  the 
Ught. 

"  King  Loc,"  the  dwarfs  of  the  forest  said  to 
him,  "  we  bring  you  the  beautiful  Uttle  girl  we 
have  found:  her  name  is  Bee." 

"  You  do  right,"  said  King  Loc.  "  She  will 
live  among  us,  as  the  custom  of  the  dwarfs 
requires." 

Then  advancing  to  Bee, 

"  Bee,"  he  said  to  her,  "  welcome!  " 

He  spoke  gently  to  her,  for  already  his  feelings 
towards  her  were  friendly.  He  stood  on  tiptoe  to 
kiss  her  hand  which  hung  down,  and  re-assured 
her  that  not  only  should  no  kind  of  harm  happen 
to  her,  but  that  all  her  wishes  should  be  satisfied. 


52  BEE:    PRINCESS 

even  if  she  should  ask  for  necklaces,  mirrors, 
wool  of  Cashmere,  and  silks  of  China. 

"  I  would  very  much  like  some  slippers/' 
answered  Bee. 

Then  King  Loc  struck  a  gong  of  bronze  which 
hung  to  the  walls  of  rock  with  his  lance,  and  im- 
mediately something  was  seen  coming  from  the 
end  of  the  cavern  bounding  like  a  ball.  It  grew 
bigger  till  it  became  a  dwarf,  the  features  of 
whose  face  recalled  those  given  by  painters  to 
the  illustrious  Belisarius,  but  whose  leather 
apron  showed  him  to  be  a  bootmaker. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  the  chief  bootmaker. 

"  True,"  said  the  King  to  him,  "  choose  in  our 
store  the  most  supple  leather,  take  cloth  of  gold 
and  silver,  ask  the  keeper  of  my  treasures  for 
a  thousand  pearls  of  the  finest  water,  and  con- 
struct a  pair  of  slippers  for  httle  Bee  out  of  the 
leather,  the  tissues  and  the  pearls." 

At  these  words  True  threw  himself  at  the  feet 
of  Bee  and  measured  them  accurately.  But  she 
said: 

"  Little  King  Loc,  you  must  give  me  the 
beautiful  slippers  you  have  promised  me  directly, 
and,  when  I  have  them,  I  will  return  to  my 
mother  at  the  Clarides." 

"  You  will  have  your  slippers.  Bee,"  answered 
King  Loc:    "  you  will  have  them  to  walk  about 


OF  THE  DWARFS  53 

inside  the  mountain  and  not  to  return  to  the 
Clarides,  for  you  cannot  leave  this  kingdom  where 
you  will  learn  beautiful  secrets  that  are  un- 
guessed  upon  the  earth.  Dwarfs  are  superior  to 
men,  and  it  is  for  your  happiness  that  you  have 
been  found  by  them." 

"It  is  for  my  unhappiness/'  answered  Bee. 
*'  Little  King  Loc,  give  me  wooden  shoes  like 
those  worn  by  peasants,  and  let  me  return  to 
the  Clarides." 

But  King  Loc  shook  his  head  to  express  that  it 
was  not  possible.  Then  Bee  clasped  her  hands 
and  sweetened  her  voice: 

"  Little  King  Loc,  let  me  go  and  I  will  love 

you." 

'*  You  will  forget  me,  Bee,  on  the  sunny  earth." 

"  Little  King  Loc,  I  will  not  forget  you,  and  I 
will  love  you  as  much  as  Breath-of-Wind." 

''  And  who  is  Breath-of- Wind  ?  " 

"My  cream-coloured  pony;  he  has  a  pink 
bridle  and  eats  out  of  my  hand.  When  he  was 
small,  the  squire  Freeheart  used  to  bring  him  up 
to  my  room  of  a  morning,  and  I  used  to  kiss 
him.  But  now  Freeheart  is  at  Rome  and  Breath- 
of- Wind  is  too  big  to  go  upstairs." 

King  Loc  smiled. 

'*  Bee,  will  you  love  me  more  than  Breath-of- 
Wind?  " 


54  BEE:    PRINCESS 

"  I  will." 

"That  is  right." 

"  I  will,  but  I  cannot;  I  hate  you,  little  King 
Loc,  because  you  prevent  me  seeing  my  mother 
and  George  again." 

"Who  is  George?  " 

"  George  is  George,  and  I  like  him." 

The  friendship  of  King  Loc  for  Bee  had  largely 
increased  in  a  few  moments,  and,  as  he  already 
hoped  to  marry  her  when  she  was  of  age,  and 
through  her  to  reconcile  men  and  dwarfs,  he 
feared  that  George  might  at  some  time  become 
his  rival  and  disturb  his  plans.  This  is  why  he 
knit  his  eyebrows  and  walked  off,  drooping  his 
head  like  a  worried  man. 

Bee,  seeing  she  had  vexed  him,  gently  plucked 
at  the  skirt  of  his  coat. 

"  Little  King  Loc,"  she  said  in  a  sad  and 
tender  voice,  "  why  do  we  each  of  us  make  the 
other  unhappy?  " 

"  Bee,  it  is  the  fault  of  circumstances,"  an- 
swered King  Loc;  "  I  cannot  take  you  back  to 
your  mother,  but  I  will  send  her  a  dream  which 
will  inform  her  of  your  fate,  dear  Bee,  and 
console  her." 

"  Little  King  Loc,"  answered  Bee,  smiling 
through  her  tears,  "  you  have  had  a  good  idea, 
but  I  will  tell  you  what  you  ought  to  do.    Every 


OF  THE  DWARFS 


55 


night  you  ought  to  send  my  mother  a  dream  in 
which  she  will  see  me  and  send  me  a  dream  in 
which  I  will  see  my  mother." 

King  Loc  promised  to  do  so.  And  what  he  said 
he  did.  Each  night  Bee  saw  her  mother,  and  each 
night  the  Duchess  saw  her  daughter.  This  satis- 
fied their  affection  a  little. 


56  BEE:    PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  X 

IN  WHICH  THE  WONDERS  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  THE 
DWARFS  ARE  THOROUGHLY  DESCRIBED,  AS 
WELL  AS  THE  DOLLS  WHICH  WERE  GIVEN 
TO   BEE 

The  kingdom  of  the  dwarf swas  deep  and  stretched 
under  a  great  part  of  the  earth.  Though  the 
sky  was  only  visible  here  and  there  through 
openings  in  the  rock,  the  open  places,  the  roads, 
the  palaces,  and  hall  were  not  buried  in  the 
thickest  night.  Only  a  few  rooms  and  several 
caverns  remained  in  darkness.  The  others  were 
lighted,  not  by  lamps  and  torches,  but  by  planets 
and  meteors  which  shed  a  wild,  fantastic  bright- 
ness, and  this  brightness  shone  upon  strange 
marvels.  Enormous  buildings  had  been  hewn  in 
the  face  of  the  rock:  in  certain  places  palaces 
cut  out  of  granite  rose  to  such  a  height  up 
under  the  vaults  of  the  huge  caverns  that  their 
stone  carvings  disappeared  in  a  mist  pierced  by 
the  yellowish  light  of  little  planets  less  luminous 
than  the  moon. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  57 

There  were  in  those  kingdoms  fortresses  of 
stupendous  mass,  amphitheatres  whose  stone 
tiers  formed  a  semicircle  which  the  eye  could 
not  embrace  in  its  full  extent,  and  vast  wells 
with  sculptured  sides  in  which  no  plummet 
could  ever  have  found  a  bottom.  All  these 
structures,  apparently  unsuited  to  the  stature 
of  their  inhabitants,  agreed  perfectly  with  their 
quaint  fantastic  turn  of  mind. 

The  dwarfs  wrapped  in  hoods  with  sprigs  of 
fern-leaves  stuck  in  them  moved  about  these 
buildings  with  the  nimbleness  of  spirits.  It  was 
quite  common  to  see  one  jump  from  the  height 
of  two  or  three  stories  on  to  the  lava  pavement 
and  rebound  like  a  ball.  His  face  retained  in 
the  act  that  calm,  majestic  expression  which 
sculptors  give  to  the  heads  of  ancient  great  men. 

There  was  no  indolence,  and  all  applied  them- 
selves to  their  work.  Whole  quarters  resounded 
with  the  noise  of  hammers;  the  shrieks  of 
machinery  echoed  against  the  cavern  roofs,  and 
it  was  a  curious  sight  to  see  the  crowd  of  miners, 
smiths,  goldbeaters,  jewellers,  diamond  polishers, 
handle  their  pickaxes,  hanuners,  pincers,  and 
files  with  the  dexterity  of  monkeys.  But  there 
was  a  more  peaceful  quarter. 

There,  uncouth  and  huge  figures,  shapeless 
pillars  dimly  projected  from  the  rough  stone; 


58  BEE:    PRINCESS 

they  seemed  to  be  aged  and  venerable.  There 
rose  a  squat  palace  with  low  doors;  it  was  the 
palace  of  King  Loc.  Just  opposite  was  the  house 
of  Bee,  house,  or  rather  cottage,  with  only  one 
room  in  it,  and  this  was  hung  with  white  musHn; 
fir-wood  furniture  spread  its  pleasant  scent  in 
the  room.  A  cleft  in  the  rock  let  in  the  light  of 
the  sky,  and  on  fine  nights  stars  were  visible. 

Bee  had  no  special  servants,  but  the  whole 
dwarf  nation  struggled  in  emulation  to  supply 
all  her  needs  and  anticipate  all  her  wishes,  except 
that  of  reascending  above  ground. 

The  most  learned  dwarfs  who  possess  great 
secrets  took  pleasure  in  teaching  her,  not  with 
books,  for  dwarfs  do  not  write,  but  by  showing 
her  all  the  plants  of  the  mountains  and  the 
valleys,  the  different  kinds  of  animals,  and  the 
various  stones  which  are  drawn  from  the  bosom 
of  the  earth.  And  it  was  by  sights  and  examples 
that  they,  with  their  gay  simplicity,  taught  her 
the  wonders  of  nature  and  the  methods  of  art. 

They  made  toys  for  her  such  as  no  rich  children 
on  the  earth  have  ever  had,  for  these  dwarfs  were 
capable  and  invented  marvellous  machines.  In 
those  depths  they  put  together  for  her  dolls  that 
could  move  with  grace  and  express  themselves 
according  to  the  rule  of  poetry.  When  assembled 
in  a  little  theatre,  of  which  the  scenery  repre- 


OF  THE  DWARFS  59 

sented  the  sea  shore,  the  blue  sky,  palaces,  and 
temples,  these  dolls  played  tragedies  of  sur- 
passing interest.  Though  they  were  not  much 
longer  than  a  man's  arm  they  looked  exactly, 
some  like  reverend  old  men,  others  like  men  in 
the  prime  of  Ufe,  or  Hke  lovely  maidens  dressed 
in  white  robes.  There  were  also  among  them 
mothers  clasping  to  their  bosoms  innocent  little 
children.  And  these  eloquent  dolls  spoke  and 
acted  on  the  stage  as  if  they  were  moved  by 
hatred,  love,  or  ambition.  They  passed  cleverly 
from  joy  to  grief,  and  so  well  did  they  imitate 
nature  that  they  raised  smiles  or  drew  tears. 
Bee  clapped  her  hands  at  the  show.  The  dolls 
who  aimed  at  tyranny  made  her  shudder  with 
disgust.  On  the  other  hand  she  poured  treasures 
of  compassion  on  the  doll  who,  once  a  princess, 
now  a  widow  and  a  captive,  her  head  crowned 
with  cypress,  has  no  other  means  of  saving  the  life 
of  her  child  than  marrying,  alas!  the  barbarian 
who  made  her  a  widow. 

Bee  never  grew  tired  of  this  game  in  which 
the  dolls  introduced  infinite  variety.  The  dwarfs 
also  gave  concerts  for  her  and  taught  her  to  play 
the  lute,  the  viola,  the  theorbo,  the  l3n:e,  and 
divers  other  kinds  of  instruments.  In  such  a 
fashion  she  became  a  good  musician,  and  the 
plays    represented    by    the    dolls   gave  her   an 


6o 


BEE:     PRINCESS 


experience  of  men  and  life.  King  Loc  was  present 
at  these  plays  and  concerts,  but  he  saw  and 
heard  no  one  else  but  Bee,  and  his  whole  soul 
was  gradually  drawn  towards  her. 

Meanwhile  days  and  months  passed,  years 
made  their  round,  and  still  Bee  stayed  among 
the  dwarfs,  incessantly  amused  and  always  full 
of  regret  for  the  earth.  She  was  growing  into  a 
beautiful  young  woman.  Her  strange  fate  gave  a 
touch  of  strangeness  to  her  face,  only  adding 
to  it  another  charm. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  6i 


CHAPTER  XI 

IN   WHICH   THE  TREASURE   OF  KING  LOC   IS 
DESCRIBED   AS  WELL  AS   POSSIBLE 

Bee  had  been  among  the  dwarfs  for  six  years 
to  a  day.  King  Loc  summoned  her  to  his  palace 
and  ordered  his  treasurer  in  her  presence  to 
displace  a  large  stone  which  seemed  fixed  in  the 
wall,  but  which  was,  in  reality,  only  inserted 
into  it. 

They  all  three  passed  through  the  opening 
left  by  the  removal  of  the  large  stone  and  found 
themselves  in  a  crevice  of  the  rock  where  two 
people  could  not  walk  abreast.  King  Loc  went 
forward  first  along  the  dark  path  and  Bee 
followed,  holding  on  to  the  skirt  of  the  royal 
mantle.  They  went  on  walking  for  a  long  time. 
At  times  the  walls  of  rock  came  so  close  together 
that  the  girl  was  afraid  of  being  caught  between 
them,  without  being  able  to  move  forward  or 
back,  and  of  dying  there.  But  the  mantle  of 
King  Loc  sped  before  her  along  the  dark  and 
narrow  path.  At  last  King  Loc  found  a  bronze 
door,  which  he  opened,  and  there  was  a  flood 
of  light. 


62  BEE:    PRINCESS 

. "  Little  King  Loc,"  cried  Bee,  "  I  never  knew 
before  that  light  was  such  a  beautiful  thing." 

But  King  Loc,  taking  her  by  the  hand,  led  her 
into  the  hall  from  which  the  light  came,  and 
said  to  her: 
"Look!" 

Bee,  dazzled,  at  first  saw  nothing,  for  this  huge 
hall,  resting  on  high  marble  pillars,  was  from  the 
floor  to  the  roof  all  glorious  with  gold. 

At  the  far  end,  on  a  dais  made  of  sparkhng 
gems,  enchased  in  gold  and  in  silver,  and  the 
steps  of  which  were  covered  by  a  carpet  of 
marvellous  embroidery,  was  set  a  throne  of 
ivory  and  gold  with  a  canopy  of  translucent 
enamels.  At  its  side  two  palm-trees,  three 
thousand  years  old,  rose  from  two  gigantic 
vessels  carved  long  ago  by  the  best  craftsmen  of 
the  dwarfs.  King  Loc  sat  down  on 
this  throne  and  made  the  young  girl 
stand  on  his  right  hand. 

"  Bee,"  he  said  to  her,  "  this  is  my 
treasure  ;  choose  whatever  you  like." 
Immense  shields  of  gold,  hung  to  the 
pillars,  caught  the  sunbeams  and  flung 
them  back  in  dazzling  showers.  Crossed 
swords  and  lances  hung  flaming  their 
bright  points.  The  tables  which  spread  close  to 
the  walls  were  loaded  with  bowls,  flagons,  ewers. 


OF  THE  DWARFS 


63 


chalices,  pyxes,  patins,  goblets,  beakers,  with 
drinking-horns  of  ivory  ringed  with  silver,  with 
enormous  bottles  of  rock  crystals,  dishes  of  carved 
gold  and  silver,  with  coffers,  with  reliquaries  in  the 
shape  of  churches,  with  mirrors,  with  candelabra 
and  censers  as  wonderful  for  their  workmanship 
as  for  their  material,  and  with  thuribles  in  the 
shape  of  monsters,  and  on  one  of  the  tables  a  game 
of  chess  made  of  moonstones  was  spread  out. 

''  Choose,  Bee,"  King  Loc  repeated. 

But  raising  her  eyes  above  these  riches,  Bee 
saw  the  blue  sky  through  an  opening  in  the 
roof,  and  as  if  she  had  understood  that  the 
light  of  the  sky  alone  gave  these  things  their 
brightness,  she  only  said: 

"  Little  King  Loc,  I  would  Uke  to  go  back  to 
earth." 

Then  King  Loc  made  a  sign  to  his  treasurer, 
who,  lifting  some  heavy  curtains,  showed  a  huge 
coffer  barred  with  plates  and  patterns  of  iron. 
The  coffer  being  open 
there  streamed  from  it  a^ 
thousand  beams  of  various 
and  charming  colours; 
each  of  these  beams  sprang 
from  a  precious  stone  cun- 
ningly cut.  King  Loc  dipped  his  hand  in  them, 
and  they  saw  rolling  in  luminous  confusion  the 


64  BEE:     PRINCESS 

violet  amethyst  and  the  maiden  stone;  the 
emerald  of  three  natures,  the  one  dark  green, 
the  other  called  the  honeyed  emerald  because 
it  is  of  the  colour  of  honey,  the  third  of  a  bluish- 
green  called  beryl,  which  bestows  beautiful 
dreams;  the  eastern  topaz;  the  ruby  beautiful 
as  the  blood  of  brave  men ;  the  dark  blue  sapphire 
called  the  male  sapphire,  and  the  pale  blue 
sapphire  called  the  female  sapphire;  the  alexan- 
drite, the  hyacinth,  the  turquoise,  the  opal, 
whose  lights  are  softer  than  those  of  the  dawn, 
the  hyalite,  and  the  Syrian  garnet.  All  the 
stones  were  of  the  most  limpid  water  and  the 
most  luminous  colour.  And  big  diamonds  cast  their 
dazzling  white  lights  among  these  coloured  fires. 

*'  Bee,  choose,"  said  King  Loc. 

But  Bee  shook  her  head  and  said : 

"  Little  King  Loc,  I  prefer  a  single  one  of  the 
sunbeams  which  strike  the  slates  of  the  castle  of 
the  Clarides  to  all  these  jewels." 

Then  King  Loc  had  a  second  -  coffer  opened 
which  held  nothing  but  pearls.  But  all  these 
pearls  were  round  and  pure;  their  changing 
lights  took  on  all  the  tints  of  the  sky  and  the 
sea,  and  their  glow  was  so  mild  that  it  seemed 
to  express  a  lovely  thought. 

"  Take  some,"  said  King  Loc. 

But  Bee  answered  him : 


OF  THE  DWARFS  65 

"  Little  King  Loc,  these  pearls  remind  me  of 
the  looks  of  George  of  the  White  Moor;  I  like 
these  pearls  but  I  like  the  eyes  of  George  better." 

Hearing  these  words,  King  Loc  turned  away 
his  head.  Yet  he  opened  a  third  coffer  and  showed 
the  young  girl  a  crystal  in  which  a  drop  of  water 
had  been  a  prisoner  since  the  earliest  time  of  the 
world,  and,  when  shaken,  the  crystal  showed  this 
drop  of  water  moving.  He  also  displayed  to  her 
pieces  of  yellow  amber  in  which  insects  more 
dazzUng  than  jewels  had  been  taken  for  millions 
of  years.  Their  delicate  legs  and  frail  membranes 
were  distinguishable,  and  they  would  have  taken 
wing  again  if  some  power  had  melted  like  ice 
their  scented  prison-house. 

"These  are  great  natural  curiosities;  I  give 
them  to  you.  Bee." 

But  Bee  answered: 

"  Little  King  Loc,  keep  the  amber  and  the 
crystal,  for  I  could  not  give  back  their  liberty 
either  to  the  fly  or  the  drop  of  water." 

King  Loc  looked  at  her  for  a  time  and  said: 

"  Bee,  the  richest  treasures  will  be  well  placed 
in  your  hands.  You  will  possess  them  and  they 
will  not  possess  you.  The  greedy  are  the  prey 
of  their  own  gold;  only  those  who  despise  wealth 
can  possess  it  with  safety;  their  souls  will  always 
be  greater  than  their  fortune." 


66  BEE:     PRINCESS 

Having  thus  spoken,  he  made  a  sign  to  his 
treasurer  who  presented  a  crown  of  gold  on  a 
cushion  to  the  young  girl. 

"  Receive  this  jewel  as  a  sign  of  the  esteem  we 
have  for  you,  Bee,"  said  King  Loc.  "  Hence- 
forward you  will  be  called  the  Princess  of  the 
Dwarfs." 

And  he  himself  placed  the  crown  on  the  brow 
of  Bee. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  67 


CHAPTER  Xn 

IN   WHICH   KING   LOC   PROPOSES 

The  dwarfs  celebrated  the  coronation  of  their 
first  princess  by  festivals  and  rejoicings.  In  their 
perfect  simplicity  they  played  games  at  random 
in  the  huge  amphitheatre,  and  the  little  men, 
with  a  sprig  of  fern  or  two  oak  leaves  neatly 
fixed  in  their  hood,  went  leaping  joyfully  along 
the  subterranean  streets.  The  rejoicings  lasted 
thirty  days.  In  his  intoxication  Pic  had  the 
look  of  an  inspired  mortal;  the  good  Tad  was 
enraptured  with  the  general  happiness;  the 
tender  Dig  gave  himself  the  pleasure  of  shedding 
tears;  Rug,  in  his  joy,  again  proposed  that  Bee 
should  be  put  in  a  cage  that  the  dwarfs  might 
not  fear  losing  so  delightful  a  princess;  Bob, 
riding  on  his  crow,  filled  the  air  with  such  joyful 
cries  that  the  bird  itself  grew  merry,  and  gave 
forth  wild  little  croaks. 

King  Loc  alone  was  sad. 

It  came  to  pass  that  on  the  thirtieth  day, 
having  entertained  the  princess  and  the  whole 


68  BEE:     PRINCESS 

nation  of  the  dwarfs  at  a  splendid  feast,  he  stood 
upon  his  arm-chair,  and  his  kind  face  being 
thus  raised  to  the  level  of  Bee's  ear : 

"  Princess  Bee,"  he  said  to  her,  "  I  am  going  to 
make  a  request  which  you  have  full  Uberty  to 
grant  or  to  refuse.  Bee  of  the  Clarides,  princess 
of  the  dwarfs,  will  you  be  my  wife?  " 

And,  speaking  thus,  King  Loc,  grave  and 
tender,  looked  as  handsome  and  mild  as  a  majestic 
poodle.    Bee  pulled  his  beard  and  answered  him. 

"  Little  King  Loc,  I  am  willing  to  be  your 
wife  for  fun;  but  I  will  never  be  your  wife 
seriously.  When  you  propose  to  marry  me,  you 
make  me  think  of  Freeheart,  who,  on  the  earth, 
used  to  tell  me  the  most  incredible  tales  to 
amuse  me." 

At  these  words  King  Loc  turned  away  his 
head,  but  too  slowly  for  Bee  not  to  see  a  tear 
caught  in  the  eyelashes  of  the  dwarf.  Then  Bee 
was  sorry  she  had  hurt  him. 

*'  Little  King  Loc,"  she  said  to  him,  "  I  love 
you  like  a  little  King  Loc  that  you  are,  and  if 
you  make  me  laugh  as  Freeheart  used  to,  that 
ought  not  to  annoy  you,  for  Freeheart  sang 
very  well,  and  would  have  been  good-looking 
without  his  grey  hair  and  red  nose." 

King  Loc  answered  her : 

*'  Bee  of  the  Clarides,  princess  of  the  dwarfs. 


OF  THE   DWARFS  69 

I  love  you  in  the  hope  that  you  will  one  day  love 
me.  But  had  I  not  that  hope  I  would  love  you 
just  as  much.  I  request  you,  in  return  for  my 
friendship,  always  to  be  sincere  with  me." 

"  Little  King  Loc,  I  promise  you  I  will." 

"  Well,  Bee,  tell  me  if  you  love  any  one  enough 
to  marry  him." 

'*  Little  King  Loc,  I  love  no  one  as  much  as 
that." 

Then  King  Loc  smiled,  and  seizing  his  golden 
goblet  he  proposed  in  ringing  tones  the  health 
of  the  princess  of  the  dwarfs.  And  a  vast 
murmur  rose  from  the  depths  of  the  earth,  for 
the  table  at  which  they  feasted  stretched  from 
one  end  to  the  other  of  the  dwarfish  empire. 


70  BEE:    PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  XIII 

TELLS   HOW   BEE   SAW   HER   MOTHER   AND 
COULD   NOT   KISS   HER 

Bee,  with  a  crown  set  on  her  forehead,  was 
more  pensive  and  more  sad  than  in  those  days 
when  her  hair  flowed  unbound  on  her  shoulders, 
and  when  she  went  laughing  to  the  smithy  of 
the  dwarfs  to  pull  the  beards  of  her  good  friends. 
Pic,  Tad,  and  Dig,  whose  faces,  reddened  by 
the  glow  of  the  flames,  grew  merry  at  her  welcome. 
The  good  dwarfs,  who  once  used  to  dandle  her 
on  their  knees  and  call  her  their  Bee,  now  bowed 
at  her  approach  and  kept  deferentially  silent. 
She  regretted  she  was  no  longer  a  child,  and  she 
was  oppressed  by  being  the  princess  of  the  dwarfs. 

It  no  longer  gave  her  any  pleasure  to  see  King 
Loc  since  she  had  seen  him  cry  on  her  account. 
But  she  liked  him;  for  he  was  kind,  and  he  was 
unhappy. 

One  day  (if  it  can  be  said  that  there  are  days 
in  the  empire  of  the  dwarfs)  she  took  King  Loc 
by  the  hand  and  drew  him  to  the  fissure  of  the 


OF  THE  DWARFS  71 

rock  admitting  a  beam  in  which  golden  motes 
danced  gaily. 

"  Little  King  Loc,"  she  said  to  him,  "  I  am  in 
pain.  You  are  also  a  king,  you  love  me,  and  I 
am  in  pain." 

Hearing  these  words  of  the  beautiful  maiden, 
King  Loc  answered: 

"  I  love  you.  Bee  of  the  Clarides,  princess  of 
the  dwarfs;  and  this  is  why  I  have  kept  you  in 
this  our  world,  so  as  to  teach  you  our  secrets 
which  are  more  great  and  wonderful  than  any- 
thing you  can  learn  on  earth  among  men,  for 
men  are  less  clever  and  less  learned  than  dwarfs." 

"  Yes,"  said  Bee,  *'  but  they  are  more  like  me 
than  the  dwarfs;  that  is  why  I  like  them  better. 
Little  King  Loc,  let  me  see  my  mother  again,  if 
you  do  not  wish  me  to  die." 

King  Loc  walked  away  without  answering. 

Bee,  alone  and  dejected,  gazed  on  the  beam  of 
that  light  which  bathes  the  whole  face  of  the 
earth  and  pours  its  radiant  floods  on  all  living 
men,  and  even  on  the  beggars  that  tramp  the 
roads.  Slowly  the  beam  grew  faint  and  changed 
its  golden  splendour  into  a  pale,  blue  light.  Night 
had  come  upon  earth.  A  star  gUttered  through 
the  fissure  in  the  rock. 

Then  some  one  touched  her  on  the  shoulder 
and  she  saw  King  Loc  wrapped  in  a  black  mantle. 


72  BEE:     PRINCESS 

On  his  arm  hung  another  mantle  which  he  put 
round  the  girl. 

"  Come,"  he  said  to  her. 

And  he  led  her  from  underground.  When  she 
again  saw  the  trees  swept  by  the  wind,  the  clouds 
racing  over  the  moon  and  the  whole  of  the  fresh, 
blue  night,  when  she  smelt  the  scent  of  the 
grasses,  and  took  to  her  bosom  in  a  flood  the  air 
she  had  breathed  during  her  childhood,  she  gave 
a  great  sigh  and  thought  to  die  of  joy. 

King  Loc  had  taken  her  in  his  arms;  small  as 
he  was,  he  carried  her  as  easily  as  a  feather,  and 
the  two  went  gliding  over  the  earth  Uke  the 
shadow  of  two  birds. 

"  Bee,  you  are  going  to  see  your  mother  again. 
But  listen.  Every  night,  as  you  know,  I  send 
your  image  to  your  mother.  Every  night,  she 
sees  your  dear  shape.  She  smiles  and  speaks  to 
it,  and  kisses  it.  To-night  I  am  going  to  show 
you,  instead  of  your  ghost.  You  will  see  her; 
but  do  not  touch  her,  do  not  speak  of  her,  for 
then  the  charm  would  be  broken,  and  she  will 
never  again  see  you  nor  your  image,  which  she 
does  not  distinguish  from  yourself." 

**  I  will  therefore  be  careful,  alas!  little  King 
Loc  .  .  .  there  it  is,  there  it  is!  " 

There  was  the  Keep  of  the  Clarides  rising  black 
on  the  hill.    Bee  hardly  had  time  to  send  a  kiss 


OF  THE  DWARFS  73 

to  the  old,  well-beloved  stones;  now  she  saw, 
blooming  with  gilliflowers,  the  ramparts  of  the 
town  of  the  Clarides  fly  past  her;  now  she  was 
going  up  along  a  slope  where  glow-worms  shone 
in  the  grass  to  the  postern  gate,  which  King  Loc 
opened  easily,  for  the  dwarfs,  the  metal  workers, 
are  not  stopped  by  locks,  padlocks,  bolts,  chains, 
and  bars. 

She  went  up  the  spiral  staircase  leading  to  her 
mother's  room  and  stopped  to  put  her  two  hands 
to  her  beating  heart.  The  door  opened  slowly, 
and,  by  the  light  of  a  lamp  hung  from  ^ 
the  ceiUng,  Bee  saw,  in  the  brooding, 
religious  silence,  her  mother,  worn  and 
pale,  her  hair  silvered  at  the  temples, 
but  more  beautiful  thus  for  her  daughter 
than  in  the  days  gone  by  of  splendid 
jewels  and  fearless  rides.  As  the  mother 
saw  her  daughter  in  a  dream,  she  opened 
her  arms  to  embrace  her.  And  the  /h  . 
child,  laughing  and  sobbing,  tried  to  ^/&pY 
cast  herself  into  these  open  arms;  but  ^- — ^ 
King  Loc  tore  her  from  this  embrace  and  carried 
her  off  like  a  straw  over  the  dark  champaign, 
down  into  the  kingdom  of  the  dwarfs. 


74 


BEE:    PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  XIV 


IN   WHICH   THE   GREAT   GRIEF  THAT   OVERTOOK 
KING  LOG   IS   SEEN 

Bee,  seated  on  the  granite  steps  of  the  sub- 
terranean palace,  again  gazed  at  the  blue  sky 
through  the  fissure  in  the  stone.  High  above 
the  elder  trees  turned  their  white  umbels  towards 
the  light.  Bee  began  to  cry.  King  Loc  took  her 
by  the  hand  and  said  to  her: 

"  Bee,  why  are  you  crying  and  what 
do  you  want?  " 

And,  as  she  had  been  sad  for  several 
days,  the  dwarfs  seated  at  her  feet 
were  playing  to  her  very  simple  tunes 
on  the  flute,  the  flageolet,  the  rebec, 
and  the  cymbals.  Other  dwarfs  turned, 
to  please  her,  such  somersaults,  that 
one  after  the  other  they  stuck  in  the 
ground  the  tips  of  their  hoods  decor- 
ated with  a  plume  of  leaves;  nothing 
could  be  more  diverting  to  see  than  the  sports 
of  these  Uttle  men  with  their  hermit  beards. 
The   good   Tad,  the   romantic   Dig,  who    loved 


OF  THE  DWARFS  75 

her  from  the  day  they  had  seen  her  sleeping 
on  the  edge  of  the  lake,  and  Pic,  the  old  poet, 
took  her  gently  by  the  arm  and  begged  her 
to  tell  them  the  secret  of  her  grief.  Paw,  who 
was  simple  but  sensible,  held  up  to  her  grapes  in 
a  basket,  and  all,  tugging  the  edge  of  her  dress, 
repeated  with  King  Loc : 

"  Bee,  princess  of  the  dwarfs,  why  are  you 
weeping?  " 

Bee  answered: 

"  Little  King  Loc  and  you  all,  little  men,  my 
grief  increases  your  grief  because  you  are  kind; 
you  weep  when  I  weep.  Know  that  I  weep  think- 
ing of  George  of  the  White  Moor,  who  must 
to-day  be  a  brave  knight,  and  whom  I  shall  never 
see  again.    I  love  him  and  I  wish  to  be  his  wife." 

King  Loc  drew  his  hand  from  the  hand  he  was 
pressing  and  said : 

"  Bee,  why  did  you  deceive  me  and  tell  me,  at 
the  feast  table,  that  you  loved  no  one?  " 

Bee  answered: 

"  Little  King  Loc,  I  did  not  deceive  you  at  the 
feast  table.  I  did  not  then  wish  to  marry  George 
of  the  White  Moor,  and  it  is  to-day  my  highest 
desire  that  he  should  propose  to  marry  me.  But 
he  will  not  propose,  since  I  do  not  know  where 
he  is  and  he  does  not  know  where  to  find  me. 
And  this  is  why  I  cry." 


76  BEE:    PRINCESS 

At  these  words  the  musicians  stopped  playing 
their  instruments  ;  the  leapers  interrupted  their 
leaps  and  remained  motionless  on  their  heads  or 
their  seats;  Tad  and  Dig  shed  silent  tears  on 
Bee's  sleeve;  the  simple  Paw  let  drop  the 
basket  with  the  bunches  of  grapes,  and  all  the 
little  men  gave  fearful  groans. 

But  the  King  of  the  Dwarfs,  more  dejected 
than  all  of  them  under  his  crown  of  sparkling 
stones,  walked  away  without  a  word,  letting  his 
mantle  drag  behind  him  like  a  torrent  of  purple. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  77 


CHAPTER  XV 

RELATES  THE  WORDS  OF  THE  LEARNED  NUR 
WHICH  GAVE  AN  EXTRAORDINARY  PLEASURE 
TO   LITTLE   KING   LOG 

King  Log  had  not  shown  his  weakness  to  the 
maiden,  but  when  he  was  alone,  he  sat  on  the 
ground,  and  holding  his  feet  in  his  hands,  he 
gave  way  to  grief. 

He  was  jealous,  and  he  said  to  himself: 
"  She  is  in  love,  and  it  is  not  with  me !  Yet  I 
am  a  king  and  am  full  of  learning;  I  have 
treasures,  I  know  marvellous  secrets;  I  am 
better  than  all  the  other  dwarfs,  who  are  superior 
to  men.  She  does  not  love  me,  and  she  loves  a 
young  man  who  has  not  the  learning  of  the 
dwarfs  and  who,  perhaps,  has  none  at  all.  Clearly 
she  does  not  appreciate  merit  and  is  silly.  I 
ought  to  laugh  at  her  want  of  sense,  but  I  love 
her  and  nothing  in  the  world  pleases  me  because 
she  does  not  love  me.'' 

For  many  long  days  King  Loc  wandered  alone 
in  the  wildest  gorges  of  the  mountains,  revolving 


78  BEE:    PRINCESS 

in  his  mind  sad  and  sometimes  wicked  ideas.  He 
thought  of  compelling  Bee  by  captivity  and 
hunger  to  become  his  wife.  But  discarding  the 
idea  almost  as  soon  as  he  had  formed  it,  he 
determined  to  go  to  the  girl  and  to  throw  himself 
at  her  feet.  Still  he  could  not  make  up  his  mind, 
and  did  not  know  what  to  do.  For  truly,  the 
power  was  not  given  to  him  to  make  Bee  love 
him. 

His  anger  turned  all  at  once  against  George  of 
the  White  Moor;  he  hoped  that  this  young  man 
would  be  carried  far  away  by  a  magician,  or  at 
least,  if  he  should  ever  be  acquainted  with  Bee's 
love,  that  he  would  disdain  it. 

And  the  king  thought : 

"  Without  being  old,  I  have  already  lived  too 
long  not  to  have  suffered  at  times.  But  my 
suffering,  deep  as  it  was,  was  never  so  fierce  as 
what  I  undergo  to-day.  These  former  pains  being 
caused  by  tenderness  or  by  pity  had  something 
of  their  heavenly  gentleness.  On  the  contrary, 
I  feel  at  this  hour  that  my  grief  has  the  blackness 
and  bitterness  of  a  bad  passion.  My  soul  is 
arid,  and  my  eyes  swim  in  tears  as  in  a  burning 
acid." 

So  thought  King  Loc.  And,  dreading  that 
jealousy  should  make  him  unjust  and  wicked,  he 
avoided  meeting  the  young  girl  for  fear  of  using. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  79 

without  wishing  to,  the  tone  of  a  weak  or  violent 
man. 

One  day,  being  more  than  ordinarily  tortured 
by  the  thought  that  Bee  loved  George,  he  deter- 
mined to  consult  Nur,  who  was  the  most  learned 
of  the  dwarfs  and  lived  in  the  bottom  of  a  well 
dug  in  the  entrails  of  the  earth. 

This  well  had  the  advantage  of  an  even,  mild 
temperature.  It  was  not  dark,  for  two  Httle 
planets,  a  pale  sun  and  red  moon,  alternately 
gave  light  to  every  part  of  it.  King  Loc  went 
down  this  well  and  found  Nur  in  his  laboratory. 
Nur  had  the  face  of  a  pleasant  old  little  man, 
and  carried  a  wisp  of  wild  thyme  in  his  hood. 
In  spite  of  his  learning,  he  showed  in  all  matters 
the  innocence  and  candour  of  his  race. 

*'  Nur,"  said  the  king,  embracing  him,  "  I  have 
come  to  consult  you  because  you  know  many 
things." 

"  King  Loc,"  answered  Nur,  "  I  might  know 
many  things  and  yet  be  only  a  fool.  But  I  know 
the  way  to  learn  a  few  of  the  innumerable  things 
I  do  not  know,  and  this  is  why  I  am  justly 
renowned  as  a  man  of  learning." 

"  Well,"  continued  Loc,  "  do  you  know  where 
a  boy  called  George  of  the  White  Moor  is 
now?  " 

'*  I  do  not  know,  and  I  have  never  had  the 


8o  BEE:    PRINCESS 

curiosity  to  learn,"  answered  Nur.  "  Knowing 
how  ignorant,  stupid,  and  wicked  men  are,  I  do 
not  care  much  what  they  think  or  what  they  do. 
Except  that,  to  give  some  value  to  the  life  of  the 
proud  and  wretched  race,  the  men  have  courage, 
the  women  beauty,  and  the  little  children  inno- 
cence, O  King  Loc,  the  whole  of  mankind  is 
lamentable  or  ridiculous.  Subject  like  the  dwarfs 
to  the  necessity  of  working  to  live,  men  have 
rebelled  against  the  divine  law,  and,  far  from 
being  like  us  workmen  full  of  jubilance,  they 
prefer  war  to  work,  and  would  rather  kill  than 
help  each  other.  But  one  must  acknowledge,  to 
be  just,  that  the  brevity  of  their  life  is  the 
principal  cause  of  their  ignorance  and  their 
ferocity.  They  live  too  short  a  time  for  them  to 
learn  how  to  live.  The  Dwarf  race,  which  lives 
under  the  earth,  is  happier  and  better.  If  we 
are  not  immortal,  at  least  each  of  us  will  last  as 
long  as  the  earth  which  carries  us  in  its  bosom 
and  pervades  us  with  its  inmost,  fruitful  warmth, 
while  for  the  race  which  is  bom  on  its  rough 
rind,  its  breath  is  burning  or  icy,  spreading 
death  as  well  as  Ufe.  However,  men  are  indebted 
to  their  extreme  misery  and  wretchedness  for  a 
quality  which  makes  the  soul  of  some  of  them 
more  beautiful  than  the  soul  of  the  dwarfs. 
This  quality,  as  splendid  to  the  mind  as  the  mild 


OF  THE  DWARFS  8i 

sheen  of  pearls  to  the  eye,  King  Loc,  is  com- 
passion. Suffering  teaches  it,  and  the  dwarfs  do 
not  know  it  well,  because,  being  wiser  than  men, 
they  have  fewer  sorrows.  So  the  dwarfs  some- 
times leave  their  deep  grottoes  and  mix  with 
men  on  the  inclement  rind  of  the  earth,  in  order 
to  love  them,  to  suffer  with  them  and  through 
them,  and  then  to  taste  compassion,  which 
falls  on  the  soul  Uke  a  heavenly,  refreshing  dew. 
Such  is  the  truth  about  men.  King  Loc;  but 
did  you  not  ask  me  for  the  particular  fate  of 
one  of  them?  " 

King  Loc  having  repeated  his  question,  the 
old  Nur  looked  into  one  of  the  glasses  that  filled 
the  room.  For  the  dwarfs  have  no  books,  those 
found  among  them  come  from  man  and  are  used 
as  toys.  To  instruct  themselves  they 
do  not  refer  as  we  do  to  signs  made 
upon  paper;  they  look  into  the 
glasses  and  see  the  subject  of  their 
researches.  The  only  difficulty  is 
to  select  the  proper  glass  and  direct 
it  rightly. 

These  glasses  are  of  crystal,  also  of  topaz  and 
opal;  but  those  which  have  a  big  polished  dia- 
mond as  lens  are  the  most  powerful  and  are 
used  to  see  very  distant  things. 

The  dwarfs  also  have  lenses  of  a  diaphanous 


82  BEE:     PRINCESS 

substance,  unknown  to  men.  These  allow  the 
eye  to  pierce  through  walls  and  rocks  as  if  they 
were  glass.  Others,  more  wonderful  still,  repro- 
duce as  faithfully  as  a  mirror  all  that  time  has 
carried  away  in  its  course,  for  the  dwarfs  can 
recall,  from  the  infinite  vastness  of  the  ether 
back  into  their  cavern  the  light  of  former  days 
together  with  the  shapes  and  colours  of  vanished 
ages.  They  enjoy  this  view  of  the  past  by  col- 
lecting the  showers  of  Hght,  which,  having  once 
fallen  against  the  forms  of  men,  of  beasts,  of 
plants  and  of  rocks,  recoil  through  the  immeasur- 
able ether  for  all  time. 

The  old  Nur  excelled  in  reviving  the  shapes  of 
the  past  and  even  those,  impossible  to  imagine, 
which  existed  before  the  earth  had  taken  upon  it 
the  aspect  which  we  know.  So  it  was  mere  play 
for  him  to  find  George  of  the  White  Moor. 

Having  looked  for  less  than  a  minute  in  quite 
a  simple  glass,  he  said  to  King  Loc: 

"  King  Loc,  he  whom  you  seek  is  now  among 
the  Sylphs,  in  the  manor  of  crystal  from  which 
none  return,  and  whose  iridescent  walls  march 
with  your  kingdom.'* 

*' He  is  there,  is  he?  Let  him  stop  there!  " 
cried  King  Loc,  rubbing  his  hands. 

And  having  embraced  the  old  Nur,  he  went 
out  of  the  well  in  peals  of  laughter. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  83 

All  along  the  road  he  held  his  sides  to  laugh  at 
his  ease;  his  head  wagged  with  mirth;  his  beard 
rose  and  fell  on  his  chest ;  ''ha!  ha!  ha!  ha!  ha! 
ha!  ha!  "  The  little  men  who  met  him  also 
began  to  laugh  Uke  him,  out  of  sympathy. 
Seeing  them  laugh,  others  laughed  too;  this 
laughter  spread  from  one  to  another  till  the 
whole  inside  of  the  earth  was  shaken  with  a 
jovial  great  guffaw. 


84  BEE:    PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  XVI 

TELLS  THE  MARVELLOUS  ADVENTURE  OF 
GEORGE  OF  THE  WHITE  MOOR 

King  Log  did  not  laugh  long;  on  the  contrary, 
he  hid  the  face  of  a  very  unhappy  little  man 
under  his  bedclothes.  Thinking  of  George  of 
the  White  Moor,  prisoner  of  the  Sylphs,  he 
could  not  sleep  the  whole  night.  So,  at  that 
hour  of  the  morning  when  the  dwarfs  who  have 
a  dairymaid  for  a  friend  go  to  milk  the  cows  in 
her  place  while  she  sleeps  like  a  log  in  her  white 
bed,  little  King  Loc  revisited  Nur  in  his  deep 
well. 

"  Nur,"  he  said  to  him,  *'  you  did  not  tell  me 
what  he  was  doing  among  the  Sylphs." 

The  old  Nur  thought  that  King  Loc  had  gone 
out  of  his  mind,  and  he  was  not  very  frightened, 
because  he  was  certain  that  King  Loc,  if  he 
became  mad,  would  certainly  turn  into  a  grace- 
ful, witty,  amiable,  and  kindly  madman.  The 
madness  of  the  dwarfs  is  gentle  like  their  sanity 
and  delightfully  fantastic.     But  King  Loc  was 


OF  THE  DWARFS  85 

not  mad;  at  least  he  was  not  more  so  than 
lovers  usually  are. 

"  I  mean  George  of  the  White  Moor,"  he  said 
to  the  old  man,  who  had  forgotten  this  young 
man  as  completely  as  possible. 

Then  the  learned  Nur  arranged  the  lenses  and 
the  mirrors  in  a  careful  pattern,  but  so  intricate 
that  it  had  the  appearance  of  disorder,  and 
showed  to  King  Loc  in  the  mirror  the  very  shape 
of  George  of  the  White  Moor,  such  as  he  was 
when  the  Sylphs  carried  him  off.  By  properly 
choosing  and  skilfully  directing  the  instruments, 
the  dwarf  showed  the  lovelorn  king  the  whole 
adventure  of  the  son  of  that  countess  who  was 
warned  of  her  end  by  a  white  rose.  And  here 
expressed  in  words  is  what  the  two  little  men 
saw  in  the  reality  of  form  and  colour. 

When  George  was  carried  away  in  the  icy  arms 
of  the  daughter  of  the  lake,  he  felt  the  water 
press  his  eyes  and  his  breast,  and  he  thought 
it  was  death.  Yet  he  heard  songs  that  were  Uke 
caresses,  and  he  was  steeped  in  a  delicious  cool- 
ness. When  he  opened  his  eyes  again  he  found 
himself  in  a  grotto;  it  had  crystal  pillars  in 
which  the  delicate  tints  of  the  rainbow  shone. 
At  the  end  of  this  grotto  there  was  a  large  shell 
of  mother-of-pearl,  irisated  with  the  softest 
colours :  it  was  a  canopy  spreading  over  a  throne 


86  BEE:    PRINCESS 

of  coral  and  weeds  where  sat  the  queen  of  the 
Sylphs.  But  the  aspect  of  the  sovereign  of  the 
waters  had  lights  softer  than  the  sheen  of  mother- 
of-pearl  and  of  crystal.  She  smiled  at  the  child 
brought  to  her  by  her  women  and  let  her  green 
eyes  rest  on  him  long, 

"  Friend,"  she  at  length  said  to  him,  "  welcome 
in  our  world,  where  you  will  be  spared  every 
pain.  For  you,  no  dry  books  or  rough  exercises, 
nothing  coarse  that  recalls  the  earth  and  its 
labours,  but  only  the  songs,  the  dances,  and  the 
friendship  of  the  Sylphs.'* 

So  the  blue-haired  women  taught  the  child 
music,  waltzing,  and  a  thousand  amusements. 
They  loved  to  bind  on  his  forehead  the  shells 
that  starred  their  own  locks.  But  he,  thinking 
of  his  country,  gnawed  his  fists  in  impatience. 

The  years  went  by,  and  George's  wish  to  see 
the  earth  again  was  unchanged  and  fervent,  the 
hardy  earth  burnt  by  the  sun,  frozen  by  the 
snow,  the  native  earth  of  sufferings  and  affections, 
the  earth  where  he  had  seen,  where  he  wished  to 
see  Bee  again.  Now  he  was  growing  into  a  big 
boy,  and  a  slight  golden  down  ran  along  his 
upper  hp.  Boldness  came  to  him  with  his  beard, 
and  one  day  he  appeared  before  the  queen  of 
the  Sylphs,  and  having  bowed,  said  to  her: 

'*  My  lady,  I  have  come,  if  you  deign  to  permit 


OF  THE   DWARFS  87 

it,  to  take  leave  of  you.  I  am  going  back  to  the 
Clarides." 

"  Dear  friend/'  the  queen  answered,  smiling, 
"  I  cannot  grant  you  the  leave  you  demand,  for 
I  keep  you  in  my  crystal  manor  to  make  you 
my  friend/' 

"  My  lady,"  George  replied,  "  I  feel  unworthy 
of  so  great  an  honour/' 

"  This  is  the  effect  of  your  courtesy.  No  good 
knight  ever  thinks  he  has  done  enough  to  win  the 
love  of  his  lady.  Further,  you  are  yet  too  young 
to  know  all  your  merits.  Be  sure,  dear  friend, 
that  nobody  wishes  you  anything  but  good.  You 
only  have  to  obey  your  lady." 

"  My  lady,  I  love  Bee  of  the  Clarides,  and  I  will 
love  no  other  lady  but  her." 

The  queen,  very  pale,  but  still  more  beautiful, 
cried : 

"  A  mortal  woman,  a  gross  daughter  of  men, 
this  Bee,  how  can  you  love  that?  " 

'*  I  do  not  know,  but  I  know  that  I  love  her/' 

''  Very  well,  you  will  recover." 

And  she  detained  the  young  man  in  the 
delights  of  the  crystal  manor. 

He  did  not  know  what  a  woman  was,  and  was 
more  Uke  Achilles  among  the  daughters  of 
Lycomedes  than  Tannhauser  in  the  magic  moun- 
tain.  So  he  wandered  gloomily  along  the  walls  of 


88 


BEE:    PRINCESS 


the  immense  palace,  looking  for  an  opening  to 
run  away;  but  on  all  sides  he  saw  the  floods 
enclosing  his  luminous  prison  in  their  mute  and 
magnificent  kingdom.  Through  the  transparent 
walls  he  watched  the  anemones  bloom  and  the 
coral  flowering,  while  purple,  azure,  and  golden 
fish  sparkled  and  sported  above  the  delicate 
madrepores  and  the  gUstening  shells.  These 
marvels  did  not  interest  him;  but  lulled  by  the 
deUcious  songs  of  the  Sylphs,  he  slowly  felt  his 
will  give  way,  and  his  whole  soul  dissolve. 
He  was  all  slackness  and  indifference,  when  he 
found  by  chance  in  a  gallery  of  the 
palace  an  old  worn  book  of  vellum, 
studded  with  copper  nails.  The  book, 
found  in  a  wreck  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  dealt  with  chivalry  and 
ladies,  and  there  were  told  at  length 
stories  of  the  adventures  of  heroes 
who  went  through  the  world  fighting 
giants,  redressing  wrongs,  protecting 
widows,  and  assisting  orphans  for 
the  love  of  justice  and  the  honour  of  beauty. 
George  flushed  and  grew  pale  in  turn  with 
admiration,  shame,  and  anger  at  the  tale  of  these 
splendid  adventures.  He  could  not  contain 
himself: 

'*  I  also,"  he  cried,  "  will  be  a  good  knight!   I 


OF  THE  DWARFS  89 

also  will  go  through  the  world  punishing  the 
wicked  and  helping  the  unhappy  for  the  good  of 
men  and  the  name  of  my  lady  Bee." 

Then  his  heart  grew  great  with  courage.  He 
strode  with  drawn  sword  through  the  crystal 
mansions.  The  white  women  fled  and  vanished 
before  him  like  the  silvery  waves  of  a  lake.  Their 
queen  alone  saw  him  come  upon  her  unmoved. 
She  fixed  on  him  the  cold  look  of  her  green  eyes. 

He  rushes  to  her;  he  cries: 

"  Unclasp  the  charm  which  you  have  thrown 
on  me.  Open  me  the  road  to  earth.  I  wish  to 
fight  in  the  sun  Uke  a  knight.  I  wish  to  return 
to  love,  to  suffer,  and  to  struggle.  Give  me  back 
the  true  life  and  the  true  light.  Give  me  action 
and  achievement;  if  you  do  not  I  will  kill  you, 
wicked  woman!  " 

She  shook  her  head  smiling,  to  say  ''no." 
She  was  beautiful  and  calm.  George  struck  her 
with  all  his  strength.  But  his  sword  broke 
against  the  glittering  bosom  of  the  queen  of  the 
Sylphs. 

"Child!  "she  said. 

And  she  had  him  shut  up  in  a  kind  of  crystal 
funnel  which  formed  a  cell  under  the  manor; 
round  it  sharks  prowled,  opening  their  monstrous 
jaws  armed  with  a  triple  row  of  sharp  teeth. 
And  it  seemed  as  if  at  each  charge  they  must 


go  BEE:    PRINCESS 

break  the  thin  partition  of  glass;  it  was  not 
possible  to  sleep  in  this  strange  cell. 

The  point  of  this  submarine  funnel  rested  on  a 
rocky  bottom  which  was  the  dome  of  the  furthest 
and  the  least  known  cavern  of  the  Empire  of 
the  dwarfs. 

This  is  what  the  two  little  men  saw  in  the 
course  of  an  hour  as  exactly  as  if  they  had  followed 
George  all  the  days  of  his  life.  The  ancient  Nur, 
after  having  displayed  the  cell  scene  in  all  its 
sadness,  spoke  to  King  Loc  much  in  the  way  of 
a  showman  when  he  has  shown  the  magic  lantern 
to  little  children. 

'*  King  Loc/'  he  said  to  him,  "  I  have  shown 
you  all  you  wished  to  see,  and,  your  knowledge 
being  perfect,  I  can  add  nothing  to  it.  I  am  not 
anxious  to  know  whether  what  you  have  seen 
has  pleased  you;  it  is  enough  that  it  is  true. 
Science  takes  no  account  of  pleasing  or  displeas- 
ing. It  is  inhuman.  It  is  not  science,  it  is  poetry 
which  charms  and  consoles.  That  is  why  poetry 
is  more  necessary  than  science.  King  Loc,  go  and 
compose  a  song." 

King  Loc  went  out  of  the  well  without  speaking 
a  word. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  91 


CHAPTER  XVn 

IN   WHICH   KING   LOG  MAKES  A   TERRIBLE 
JOURNEY 

On  leaving  the  well  of  science  King  Loc  went 
to  his  treasure,  took  a  ring  from  a  box  of  which 
he  alone  had  a  key,  and  put  it  on  his  finger.  The 
bezel  of  this  ring  shone  brightly,  for  it  was  made 
of  magic  stone  whose  virtues  will  be  discovered 
in  the  course  of  this  story.  King  Loc  then  went 
to  his  palace,  where  he  put  on  a  travelling  cloak, 
drew  on  heavy  boots,  and  took  a  stick.  Then  he 
set  out  through  the  crowded  street,  the  broad 
roads,  the  villages,  and  the  halls  of  porphyry, 
the  lakes  of  petroleum,  and  the  grottos  of  crystal 
which  communicated  with  each  other  by  narrow 
openings. 

He  seemed  pensive  and  spoke  words  which  had 
no  sense.  But  he  walked  on  steadily.  Mountains 
blocked  the  way  and  he  climbed  the  mountains; 
cliffs  yawned  at  his  feet  and  he  went  down  the 
cliffs;  he  crossed  fords,  he  passed  through  grisly 
regions  darkened  by  the  fumes  of  sulphur.    He 


92  BEE:    PRINCESS 

walked  over  burning  lava,  in  which  his  feet 
printed  themselves;  he  seemed  to  be  an  extremely 
determined  traveller.  He  entered  dark  caverns 
where  the  sea  water,  trickling  in  drops,  fell  like 
tears  along  the  weeds  and  made  pools  in  the 
uneven  soil  in  which  innumerable  crustaceans 
grew  monstrously.  Enormous  crabs,  giant 
crayfish,  spiders  of  the  sea,  cracked  under  the 
feet  of  the  dwarf  and  made  off,  leaving  behind 
a  claw,  and  waking  in  their  flight  hideous  hoary 
cuttle-fish,  who  suddenly  waved  their  hundred 
arms  and  spat  from  their  beaks  a  reeking  poison. 
King  Loc  went  on  all  the  same.  He  reached  the 
end  of  these  caverns  staggering  under  a  load  of 
monsters  armed  with  stings,  double  jagged  pin- 
cers, claws  that  curled  up  to  his  neck,  and  sullen 
eyes  brandished  at  the  end  of  long  branches. 
He  climbed  the  side  of  the  cavern  clinging  to 
the  roughnesses  of  the  rock,  and  the  armoured 
beasts  went  up  with  him,  and  he  only  stopped 
when  by  groping  he  found  a  stone  that  jutted 
out  of  the  vaulted  summit.  With  his  magic  ring 
he  touched  this  stone,  which  immediately  fell 
with  a  great  crash,  and  immediately  a  flood 
of  light  poured  its  lovely  streams  into  the 
cavern  and  put  to  flight  the  beasts  bred  in 
darkness. 

King  Loc  put  his  head  through  the  opening 


OF  THE  DWARFS  93 

where  the  light  came  from,  saw  George  ol  the 
White  Moor  thinking  of  Bee  and  the  earth,  and 
mourning  in  his  glass  prison.  For  King  Loc  had 
made  this  subterranean  journey  to  release  the 
prisoner  of  the  Sylphs.  But  seeing  this  big  head, 
all  hair,  eyebrows,  and  beard,  look  at  him  from 
the  bottom  of  the  crystal  funnel,  George  thought 
a  great  danger  threatened  him,  and  he  felt  for 
the  sword  at  his  side,  forgetting  he  had  broken 
it  on  the  bosom  of  the  green-eyed  woman.  Mean- 
while King  Loc  examined  him  curiously. 

"Pooh!"  he  said  to  himself,  "it  is  only  a 
child." 

Certainly  it  was  a  very  simple  child,  and  he 
owed  to  his  great  simplicity  his  escape  from  the 
delicious  and  mortal  kisses  of  the  queen  of  the 
Sylphs.  Aristotle  with  all  his  learning  could  not 
have  got  out  of  it  so  easily. 
George,  seeing  himself  defenceless,  said: 
"  What  do  you  want  of  me,  big  head?  Why 
hurt  me,  if  I  have  never  hurt  you?  " 

King  Loc  answered  in  a  jovial  and  gruff  tone: 
"  My  dear  boy,  you  do  not  know  if  you  have 
hurt  me,  for  you  are  ignorant  of  effect  and  cause, 
of  reflex  action,  and  generally  of  all  philosophy. 
But  do  not  let  us  talk  of  this.  If  you  are  not 
reluctant  to  leave  your  funnel,  come  through 
here." 


94  BEE:    PRINCESS 

George  immediately  insinuated  himself  into 
the  cavern,  slid  down  the  wall,  and,  as  soon  as 
he  reached  the  bottom: 

*'  You  are  a  good  little  man/'  he  said  to  his 
deliverer,  ''  I  will  like  you  all  my  life;  but  do  you 
know  where  Bee  of  the  Clarides  is?  " 

"  I  know  a  great  many  things,"  answered  the 
dwarf,  *'  and  especially  that  I  do  not  like  in- 
quisitive people." 

George,  hearing  these  words,  remained  quite 
abashed,  and  he  silently  followed  his  guide 
through  the  thick  and  murky  air  where  cuttle- 
fish and  crabs  were  moving.  Then  King  Loc 
said  to  him  with  a  grin : 

"  The  road  is  rather  rough,  my  young  prince." 

"Sir,"  George  answered  him,  "  the  way  to 
freedom  is  always  pleasant,  and  I  am  not  afraid 
of  being  lost  by  following  my  benefactor." 

Little  King  Loc  bit  his  lips.  When  he  reached 
the  hall  of  porphyry,  he  showed  the  young  man  a 
staircase  made  in  the  stone  by  which  the  dwarfs 
go  up  above  ground. 

"  Here  is  your  road,"  he  said  to  him,  *'  good- 
bye." 

"  Do  not  say  good-bye,"  replied  George,  "  tell 
me  you  will  see  me  again.  My  life  belongs  to  you 
after  what  you  have  done  for  me." 

King  Loc  answered : 


OF  THE  DWARFS  95 

"  What  I  have  done  was  not  for  you,  but  for 
another.  We  had  better  not  see  each  other  again, 
because  we  might  not  Uke  each  other/' 

George  replied  unaffectedly  and  seriously: 

"  I  did  not  think  that  my  release  would  give 
me  pain.  And  yet  it  has.  Good-bye,  sir.*' 

"  I  wish  you  a  good  journey,"  King  Loc  cried 
roughly. 

Now  this  staircase  ended  in  a  lonely  quarry 
which  lay  less  than  a  league  from  the  castle 
of  the  Clarides. 

King  Loc  pursued  his  way  muttering : 

"  This  boy  has  neither  the  learning  nor  the 
wealth  of  the  dwarfs.  I  do  not  really  know  why 
he  is  loved  by  Bee,  unless  it  is  that  he  is  young, 
handsome,  loyal,  and  bold." 

He  returned  to  the  town  laughing  to  hunself 
like  a  man  who  has  played  a  practical  joke  on 
some  one.  Passing  in  front  of  Bee's  house,  he 
pushed  his  big  head  through  the  window,  as  he 
had  done  into  the  glass  funnel,  and  he  saw 
the  young  girl  embroidering  a  veil  with  silver 
flowers. 

'*  Rejoice,  Bee,"  he  said  to  her. 

"  And  you,"  she  answered,  "  little  King  Loc, 
may  you  never  have  anything  to  wish  for,  or  at 
least  anything  to  regret." 

There  was  something  he  wished  for,  but  really 


96  BEE:    PRINCESS 

he  had  nothing  to  regret.  This  thought  gave 
him  a  large  appetite  for  supper.  After  eating 
a  great  number  of  truffled  pheasants,  he  called 
Bob. 

"  Bob/'  he  said  to  him,  "  get  on  your  crow: 
go  to  the  Princess  of  the  Dwarfs  and  tell  her  that 
George  of  the  White  Moor,  who  was  for  a  long 
time  a  prisoner  of  the  Sylphs,  returned  to-day 
to  the  Clarides/' 

He  spoke,  and  Bob  flew  off  on  his  crow. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  97 


CHAPTER  XVni 

TELLS  THE  MARVELLOUS  MEETING  THAT  OCCURRED 
TO  JOHN,  THE  MASTER  TAILOR,  AND  OF  THE 
GOOD  SONG  SUNG  BY  THE  BIRDS  OF  THE 
GROVE  TO  THE  DUCHESS 

When  George  found  himself  on  the  earth  where 
he  was  bom,  the  first  person  he  met  was  John, 
the  old  master  tailor,  carrying  on  his  arm  a 
scarlet  suit  for  the  steward  of  the  castle.  The  old 
fellow  gave  a  great  cry  at  the  sight  of  the  young 
lord. 

''  St.  James !  "  he  said,  "  if  it  is  not  his  Highness 
George  of  the  White  Moor,  who  was  drowned  in 
the  lake  seven  years  ago,  then  it  is  his  ghost  or 
the  devil  himself!  " 

"  It  is  not  a  ghost  or  a  devil,  my  good  John, 
but  it  is  that  George  of  the  White  Moor  who  used 
to  sUp  into  your  shop  and  ask  you  for  little  bits 
of  cloth  to  make  dresses  for  the  dolls  of  my 
sister  Bee." 

But  the  old  fellow  exclaimed : 

"  So  you  were  not  drowned,  your  Highness?   I 

G 


98  BEE:    PRINCESS 

am  very  pleased.  You  look  quite  well.  My 
grandson,  Peter,  who  used  to  climb  up  into  my 
arms  of  a  Sunday  morning  to  see  you  go  by  on 
horseback  next  to  the  Duchess,  has  become  a 
good  workman  and  a  fine,  handsome  lad.  He 
will  be  glad  to  know  you  are  not  at  the  bottom 
of  the  water,  and  that  the  fish  have  not  eaten 
you  as  he  thought.  He  is  accustomed  to  say 
about  this  the  most  amusing  things  in  the  world; 
for  he  is  full  of  wit,  your  Highness.  And  it  is  a 
fact  that  everybody  regrets  you  in  the  Clarides. 
You  were  such  a  promising  little  boy.  I  will 
remember  to  my  last  day  how  once  you  asked 
me  for  my  needle,  and  as  I  would  not  give  it 
to  you,  because  you  were  not  old  enough  to 
handle  it  without  danger,  you  answered  me  that 
you  would  go  into  the  wood  and  pick  the  fine 
needles  of  the  pines.  This  is  what  you  said,  and 
it  still  makes  me  laugh.  Upon  my  word  this  is 
what  you  said.  Our  little  Peter  used  also  to  make 
excellent  answers.  He  is  a  cooper  at  present, 
at  your  service,  your  Highness." 

''  I  will  employ  none  other  but  him.  But, 
Master  John,  give  me  some  news  of  Bee  and  the 
Duchess." 

"  Alas,  where  have  you  been,  your  Highness, 
not  to  know  that  Princess  Bee  was  carried  off, 
seven  years  ago,  by  the  dwarfs  of  the  mountain  ? 


OF  THE  DWARFS  99 

She  disappeared  the  very  day  you  were  drowned; 
and  it  can  be  said  that  on  that  day  the  Clarides 
lost  their  two  sweetest  flowers.  The  Duchess 
has  mourned  greatly  ever  since.  This  always 
makes  me  say  that  the  great  people  of  this  world 
have  their  trouble  like  the  poorest  workmen,  and 
this  is  a  sign  that  we  are  all  children  of  Adam. 
Accordingly  a  cat  may  look  at  a  king,  as  they  say. 
By  the  same  token  the  good  Duchess  saw  her 
hair  grow  grey  and  lost  all  her  gaiety.  And 
when,  in  the  spring,  she  walks  about  in  a  black 
dress  under  the  grove  where  the  birds  sing,  the 
smallest  of  these  birds  is  more  enviable  than  the 
sovereign  of  the  Clarides.  Her  sorrow,  however, 
is  not  hopeless,  your  Highness;  for,  if  she  has 
no  news  of  you,  at  least  she  knows  by  dreams 
that  her  daughter  Bee  is  alive." 

Old  John  said  these  things  and  many  others, 
too ;  but  George  was  not  listening  to  him  since  he 
had  heard  that  Bee  was  a  prisoner  of  the  dwarfs. 

He  reflected : 

"  The  dwarfs  detain  Bee  under  the  earth;  a 
dwarf  got  me  out  of  my  crystal  prison.  These 
little  men  have  not  all  the  same  habits;  my 
deliverer  surely  does  not  belong  to  the  tribe  of 
those  who  carried  off  my  sister." 

He  did  not  know  what  to  think,  unless  it  was 
that  Bee  must  be  released. 


100  BEE:     PRINCESS 

Now  they  were  going  through  the  town,  and, 
as  they  passed,  the  old  women  standing  at  their 
thresholds  asked  each  other  who  this  young 
stranger  was,  and  they  agreed  his  appearance 
was  handsome.  The  more  wary,  having  recog- 
nised the  Lord  of  the  White  Moor,  thought  they 
saw  a  ghost,  and  fled,  crossing  themselves 
vigorously. 

''  Holy  water  ought  to  be  cast  at  him,"  said  an 
old  woman,  "  and  he  would  vanish  leaving  a  dis- 
gusting smell  of  sulphur.  He  is  carrying  off 
Master  John,  the  tailor,  and  quite  certainly 
he  will  plunge  him  all  alive  into  the  flames  of 
hell." 

"  Gently,  old  woman,"  a  burgess  replied,  "  the 
young  lord  is  alive  and  a  good  deal  more  so  than 
you  and  me.  He  is  as  fresh  as  a  rose,  and  rather 
seems  to  have  come  from  some  noble  court  than 
from  the  other  world.  Men  come  back  from  far, 
my  good  woman;  witness  the  squire  Freeheart, 
who  came  back  to  us  from  Rome  last  Candlemas." 

And  Mary,  the  armourer's  daughter,  having 
admired  George,  went  up  to  her  maiden  room, 
and  kneehng  then  before  the  image  of  the  Holy 
Virgin:  ''Holy  Virgin,"  she  said,  "grant  me  a 
husband  like  this  young  lord." 

Every  one  spoke  in  their  own  way  of  the 
return  of  George,  so  much  so  that  the  news  flew 


OF  THE  DWARFS  loi 

from  mouth  to  mouth  to  the  ears  of  the  Duchess, 
who  was  then  walking  in  the  orchard.  Her  heart 
beat  high,  and  she  heard  all  the  birds  in  the 
grove  sing : 

Teewhit,  teewhit,  teewhit, 
Teewhit,  teewhit,  teewhit, 
George  of  the  White  Moor, 
Teewhit,  teewhit,  teewhit. 
Whom  you  brought  up, 
Teewhit,  teewhit,  teewhit. 
Is  here,  here,  here,  here. 

Freeheart  respectfully  approached  her,  and 
said  to  her: 

*'  Your  Grace,  George  of  the  White  Moor, 
whom  you  thought  to  be  dead,  has  returned.  I 
am  going  to  make  a  song  about  it." 

Still  the  birds  sang : 

Teewhit,  teewhit,  twit,  twit, 
Is  here,  here,  here. 
Is  here,  here,  here. 

And  when  she  saw  the  child  coming  she  had 
brought  up  as  a  son  she  opened  her  arms  and  fell 
in  a  swoon. 


102  BEE:    PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  XIX 

TELLS   OF  A  LITTLE   SATIN   SLIPPER 

People  were  pretty  certain  in  the  Clarides 
that  Bee  had  been  carried  off  by  the  dwarfs. 
It  was  also  the  beUef  of  the  Duchess;  but  her 
dreams  did  not  give  her  any  exact  information. 

*'  We  will  find  her,"  said  George. 

"  We  will  find  her,"  answered  Freeheart. 

'*  And  we  will  bring  her  back  to  her  mother," 
said  George. 

'*  And  we  will  bring  her  back,"  answered 
Freeheart. 

"  And  we  will  marry  her,"  said  George. 

"  And  we  will  marry  her,"  answered  Freeheart. 

And  they  inquired  among  the  inhabitants 
concerning  the  habits  of  the  dwarfs  and  the 
mysterious  facts  of  Bee's  capture. 

This  led  them  to  question  the  nurse  Glauce, 
who  had  been  the  nurse  of  the  Duchess  of  the 
Clarides;  but  now  Glauce  was  old  and  fed  the 
fowls  in  her  farmyard. 


OF  THE  DWARFS  103 

There  the  squire  and  his  master  found  her. 
She  was  crjdng  "Ss!  ss!  ss!  chick!  chick! 
chick;    ss!    ss!    ss!    ss!  "  c^f^ 

and  throwing  grain  to  the      ^^f>59         -^ 

chicks.  Jy^  '^^ — ^/ 

"Ss!    ss!    ss!    chick!  ^^  '"  ^^ 

chick!  chick!  It  is  your 
Highness  !  Ss  !  ss  !  ss  ! 
Is  it  possible  that  you 
have  become  so  big  .  .  .  ss!  and  so  handsome? 
Ss !  ss !  shoo !  shoo !  shoo !  Do  you  see  that  big 
one  there  eating  the  share  of  the  small  ones? 
Shoo!  shoo!  So  it  is  everywhere  in  the  world, 
your  Highness.  All  the  good  goes  to  the  rich. 
The  lean  get  leaner,  while  the  fat  get  fatter. 
For  there  is  no  justice  on  this  earth.  What  can 
I  do  for  you,  your  Highness?  You  will  surely 
each  of  you  take  a  glass  of  ale?  " 

*'  We  will  take  one  with  pleasure,  Glauce,  and 
I  will  kiss  you  because  you  nursed  the  mother 
of  her  whom  I  love  best  in  the  world." 

*'  It  is  quite  true,  your  Highness;  my  baby 
had  its  first  tooth  in  six  months  and  fourteen 
days,  and  on  that  occasion  the  late  Duchess 
made  me  a  present.   It  is  quite  true." 

'*  Well,  tell  us,  Glauce,  what  you  know  of  the 
dwarfs  who  carried  off  Bee." 

'*  Alas!   your  Highness,  I  know  nothing  of  the 


104  BEE:    PRINCESS 

dwarfs  who  carried  her  off.  And  how  can  an  old 
woman  like  me  know  anything?  I  forgot  the 
little  I  ever  learnt  long  ago,  and  I  have  not 
even  enough  memory  to  remember  where  I  put 
my  spectacles.  I  often  look  for  them  when  I 
have  them  on.  Try  this  ale,  it  is  nice  and  cool." 
-  /^      "Your   health,    Glauce;    but   I   am 

^ — ^H  told    your   husband    knew    something 

(  1  about  Bee's  carrying  off." 

\  j      "  It   is   quite   true,  your   Highness. 

Vnzr:*^  Though  he  had  never  got  any  education, 
he  knew  a  great  many  things  that  he  learnt  in 
inns  and  taverns.  He  never  forgot  anything. 
If  he  was  still  in  this  world  and  sitting  at  this 
table  with  us,  he  could  tell  you  stories  by  the 
week.  He  told  me  so  many  and  so  many  of  all 
kinds  that  they  have  made  a  muddle  inside  my 
head,  and  I  cannot,  at  this  moment,  make  head 
or  tail  of  any  of  them.  It  is  quite  true,  your 
Highness." 

Yes,  it  is  quite  true,  and  the  head  of  the  old 
nurse  was  as  useless  as  an  old  cracked  kettle. 
George  and  Freeheart  had  all  the  trouble  in  the 
world  to  get  any  good  out  of  her.  At  last,  by 
sifting  her,  they  drew  out  a  story  which  began 
in  this  style : 

*/  Seven  years  ago,  your  Highness,  on  the  very 
day  you  and  Bee  got  into  the  scrape  from  which 


OF  THE  DWARFS  105 

neither  of  you  came  back,  my  late  husband  went 
into  the  hills  to  sell  a  horse.  It  is  quite  true.  He 
gave  his  beast  a  good  feed  of  oats  with  a  dash  of 
cider  in  it,  so  that  it  might  have  a  firm  leg  and  a 
bright  eye;  he  took  it  to  the  market  near  the 
hills.  His  com  and  his  cider  were  not  lost,  for  it 
made  his  horse  sell  better.  It  is  the  same  with 
beasts  as  with  men ;  they  are  judged  by  appear- 
ances. My  late  husband  was  pleased  at  the  good 
business  he  had  done;  he  offered  to  drink  with 
his  friends,  undertaking  to  drink  fair  to  them. 
And  I  must  tell  you,  your  Highness,  that  there 
was  not  a  man  in  the  whole  Clarides  who  could 
drink  fairer  with  his  friends  than  my  husband. 
So  much  so  that,  on  this  day,  after  a  great  deal 
of  good  feeling  and  harmony,  he  came  back 
alone  in  the  twilight  and  took  a  wrong  road,  for 
want  of  finding  the  right  one.  Finding  himself 
near  a  cavern,  he  saw  as  clear  as  it  was  possible 
in  his  condition  and  at  that  hour  a  band  of  little 
men  carrying  a  boy  or  a  girl  on  a  stretcher.  He 
ran  away  for  fear  of  a  mishap,  for  wine  did  not 
deprive  him  of  discretion.  But  at  some  distance 
from  the  cavern,  having  let  his  pipe  fall,  he  bent 
to  pick  it  up  and  took  hold  of  a  little  satin  slipper 
instead.  He  made  a  remark  about  it  which  he 
liked  to  repeat  when  he  was  in  a  good  temper. 
'  This  is  the  first  time,'  he  said  to  himself,  '  that  a 


io6  BEE:     PRINCESS 

pipe  changes  into  a  slipper.'  Now,  as  this  sUpper 
was  the  shpper  of  a  Uttle  girl,  he  thought  that 
she  who  had  lost  it  in  the  wood  had  been  carried 
off  by  the  dwarfs,  and  that  it  was  her  capture 
he  had  seen.  He  was  just  on  the  point  of  putting 
the  slipper  in  his  pocket  when  little  men,  covered 
with  hoods,  threw  themselves  upon  him  and 
gave  him  so  many  smacks  on  the  head  that  he 
remained  on  the  spot  quite  dazed." 

"  Glauce!  Glauce!  "  cried  George,  "  it  is  Bee's 
slipper!  Give  it  me  that  I  may  kiss  it  a  thousand 
times.  It  shall  lie  on  my  heart  for  ever,  in  a  bag 
of  scented  silk,  and  when  I  die  it  shall  be  put  in 
my  cofl&n." 

'*  As  you  please,  your  Highness;  but  where 
wiU  you  go  to  get  it?  The  dwarfs  took  it  back 
from  my  poor  husband,  and  he  even  thought 
that  why  he  had  been  so  thoroughly  beaten  was 
because  he  tried  to  put  it  in  his  pocket  to  show 
the  magistrates.  He  was  accustomed  to  say  on 
the  subject  when  he  was  in  a  good  temper  ..." 

"  Enough!  Enough !  Only  tell  me  the  name  of 
the  cave." 

*'  My  lord,  it  is  called  the  cave  of  the  dwarfs, 
and  it  is  well  called  so.   My  late  husband  ..." 

*'  Glauce!  not  a  word  more!  But  you.  Free- 
heart,  do  you  know  where  this  cave  is?  " 

*'  My  lord,"  answered  Freeheart,  finishing  his 


OF  THE  DWARFS  107 

mug  of  ale,  "  you  would  be  quite  certain  I  do  if 
you  knew  my  songs  better.  I  have  composed  at 
least  a  dozen  on  this  cave,  and  I  have  described 
it  without  forgetting  the  smallest  sprig  of  moss. 
I  venture  to  say,  my  lord,  that  of  these  twelve 
songs,  six  are  really  worth  something.  But  the 
six  others  are  not  to  be  disdained.  I  will  just 
sing  you  one  or  two  ..." 

"  Freeheart,"  cried  George,  "  we  will  seize  the 
cave  of  the  dwarfs,  and  we  will  deliver  Bee!  " 

*'  Nothing  could  be  more  certain,"  answered 
Freeheart. 


io8  BEE:     PRINCESS 


CHAPTER  XX 

IN   WHICH   A   DANGEROUS   ADVENTURE 
IS   RELATED 

As  soon  as  night  came,  and  the  whole  castle 
was  asleep,  George  and  Freeheart  slipped  into 
the  low  hall  to  get  arms.  There,  under  the  smoky 
joists,  gleamed  lances,  swords,  dirks,  espadons, 
hunting  knives,  daggers,  all  that  is  required  to 
kill  man  and  wolf.  Under  each  rafter,  a  com- 
plete suit  of  armour  stood  upright,  holding  itself 
so  sternly  and  proudly  that  it  seemed  as 
if  it  was  still  filled  by  the  soul  of  the  brave 
man  who  had  arrayed  himself  in  it  in  bygone 
days  to  go  on  great  adventures.  And  the  glove 
clasped  the  lance  in  ten  iron  fingers,  while  the 
shield  rested  on  the  tassets  of  the  thigh,  as 
if  to  teach  that  prudence  is  necessary  to  courage 
and  that  the  good  soldier  is  armed  for  defence 
as  well  as  for  attack.  George  selected  amid  so 
ample  a  choice  the  suit  of  armour  which  the 
father  of  Bee  had  carried  as  far  as  the  isles  of 
Avalon  and  of  Thule.     He  put  it  on  with  the 


OF  THE  DWARFS  109 

help  of  Freeheart,  and  he  did  not  forget  the 
shield  on  which  was  blazoned  proper  the  golden 
sun  of  the  Clarides.  Freeheart,  on  the  other 
hand,  arrayed  himself  in  the  good  old  steel  coat 
of  his  grandfather  and  crowned  himself  with  an 
obsolete  headpiece,  to  which  he  added  a  kind  of 
moth-eaten  and  ragged  plume,  feather,  or  brush. 
He  made  this  choice  for  fun  and  to  look  comical; 
for  he  considered  that  gaiety,  good  at  all  hours, 
is  especially  useful  when  there  are  great  dangers 
to  be  incurred. 

Having  thus  armed  themselves,  they  went  off, 
under  the  moon,  over  the  dark  fields.  Freeheart 
had  tied  the  horses  at  the  edge  of  a  little  wood, 
near  the  fortress  gate,  where  they  found  them 
gnawing  the  bark  of  the  bushes;  these  horses 
were  very  swift,  and  it  took  them  less  than  an 
hour  to  reach,  amid  dancing  will  o'  wisps  and 
confused  visions,  the  mountains  of  the  dwarfs. 

"  Here  is  the  cave,"  said  Freeheart. 

The  lord  and  squire  dismounted.  Sword  in 
hand,  they  entered  the  cave.  Great  courage  was 
required  to  engage  in  such  an  adventure.  But 
George  was  in  love  and  Freeheart  was  faithful. 
And  as  the  most  delightful  of  poets  says: 

"What  cannot  Friendship  do  guided  by  sweet 
Love?" 

The  lord  and  the  squire  walked  in  the  darkness 


no  BEE:    PRINCESS 

for  nearly  an  hour;  then  they  saw  a  great  blaze, 
at  which  they  were  astonished.  It  was  one  of 
those  meteors  with  which  we  know  the  dwarfs 
illuminate  their  kingdom. 

By  the  light  of  this  subterranean  brightness  they 
saw  they  were  at  the  base  of  an  ancient  castle. 

"  Here,"  said  George,  "  is  the  castle  which  we 
must  seize." 

"  Certainly,"  answered  Freeheart,  "  but  allow 
me  to  drink  a  few  drops  of  this  wine  which  I 
brought  with  me  as  a  weapon,  for  a  good  wine 
makes  a  good  man,  and  a  good  man  makes  a 
good  spear,  and  a  good  spear  makes  a  bad  foe." 

George,  not  seeing  a  living  soul,  roughly  struck 
with  the  hilt  of  his  sword  the  door  of  the  castle. 
A  smaU  quavering  voice  made  him  lift  his  head, 
and  he  saw  at  one  of  the  windows  a  very  small  old 
man  with  a  long  beard  who  asked  him : 

"Who  are  you?  " 

"  George  of  the  White  Moor." 

"  And  what  do  you  want?  " 

''  I  want  to  take  back  Bee  of  the  Clarides,  whom 
you  unjustly  detain  in  your  mole-hill,  ugly  moles 
that  you  are!  " 

The  dwarf  disappeared,  and  again  George  found 
himself  alone  with  Freeheart,  who  said  to  him: 

'*  My  lord,  I  do  not  know  if  I  am  guilty  of 
exaggeration  when  I  state  that  in  your  answer  to 


OF  THE  DWARFS  iii 

the  dwarf  you  did  not  perhaps  exhaust  all  the 
resources  of  the  most  persuasive  eloquence/' 

Freeheart  feared  nothing,  but  he  was  old.  His 
manners,  like  the  top  of  his  head,  had  been 
smoothed  by  time,  and  he  did  not  like  to  see 
people  annoyed.  George,  on  the  other  hand, 
rushed  about  yelUng: 

"  Vile  earthmen,  moles,  badgers,  dormice, 
ferrets,  and  water-rats,  only  open  the  door  and 
I  will  cut  all  your  ears  off." 

But  hardly  had  he  finished  speaking  these 
words  when  the  bronze  door  of  the  castle  opened 
of  itself.  No  one  could  be  seen  pushing  the  huge 
leaves. 

George  was  frightened,  and  yet  he  stepped 
through  the  mysterious  door  because  his  courage 
was  greater  than  his  fear.  Once  inside  the  court, 
he  saw  at  all  the  windows,  in  all  the  galleries, 
on  all  the  roofs,  on  all  the  gables,  inside  the 
lamp  and  even  on  the  chimney-pots  dwarfs  armed 
with  bows  and  cross-bows. 

He  heard  the  bronze  door  shut  behind  him, 
and  a  shower  of  arrows  began  to  fall  hard  on 
his  head  and  his  shoulders.  For  the  second  time 
he  was  very  frightened,  and  for  the  second  time 
he  overcame  his  fear. 

Shield  on  arm,  and  sword  in  hand,  he  went  up 
the  stairs,  when  suddenly  he  saw,  standing  on 


112  BEE:     PRINCESS 

the  highest  step,  and  cabnly  majestic,  a  stately 
dwarf,  bearing  the  golden  sceptre,  the  royal 
crown,  and  the  purple  mantle.  And  this  dwarf 
he  recognised  to  be  the  little  man  who  had  freed 
him  from  his  glass  prison.  Then  he  threw  himself 
at  his  feet  and  said  to  him  in  tears: 

"My  benefactor,  is  it  you?  Are  you  one  of 
those  who  have  taken  from  me  Bee  whom  I 
love  ?  " 

"  I  am  King  Loc,"  answered  the  dwarf.  "  I 
have  kept  Bee  with  me  to  teach  her  the  secrets 
of  the  dwarfs.  Child,  you  have  come  upon  my 
kingdom  like  hail  on  a  garden  of  flowers.  But 
the  dwarfs,  less  weak  than  men,  do  not  grow 
irritated  as  they  do.  I  am  too  much  above  you 
in  mind  to  feel  anger  at  your  acts,  whatever 
they  may  be.  Of  all  the  advantages  I  have 
over  you  there  is  one  that  I  will  carefully  keep; 
it  is  that  of  being  just.  I  will  send  for  Bee,  and 
I  will  ask  her  if  she  wishes  to  follow  you.  I  will 
do  this  not  because  you  demand  it,  but  because 
it  is  my  duty." 

There  was  a  deep  silence,  and  Bee  appeared  in 
a  white  dress  with  her  fair  hair  loose.  As  soon  as 
she  saw  George  she  ran  to  throw  herself  in  his 
arms,  and  clasped  with  all  her  might  the  iron 
breast  of  the  knight. 

Then  King  Loc  said  to  her: 


OF  THE   DWARFS  113 

"  Bee,  is  it  true  that  this  is  the  man  whom  you 
wish  to  marry?  " 

"  It  is  true,  very  true,  that  this  is  the  man, 
little  King  Loc,"  answered  Bee.  '*  Look,  little 
men,  how  I  laugh  and  how  I  am  happy." 

And  she  began  to  cry.  Her  tears  fell  on  George's 
cheek,  and  they  were  tears  of  happiness;  laughter 
mingled  with  the  tears  and  a  thousand  delightful 
words  which  had  no  sense,  like  those  murmured 
by  little  children.  She  did  not  reflect  that  the 
sight  of  her  happiness  could  sadden  the  heart 
of  King  Loc. 

"  Dearest,"  George  said  to  her,  "  I  find  you 
again  just  as  I  wished  you  to  be:  the  most 
beautiful  and  the  best  of  beings.  You  love  me! 
Heaven  be  thanked,  you  love  me!  But,  Bee,  do 
you  not  also  love  King  Loc  a  little,  who  drew 
me  from  the  glass  prison  where  the  Sylphs 
kept  me  far  from  you?  " 

Bee  turned  to  King  Loc : 

''  Little  King  Loc,  you  did  this!  "  she  cried: 
"  you  loved  me  and  you  freed  the  one  who  loved 
me  and  whom  I  loved  ..." 

She  could  say  no  more,  and  she  fell  on  her 
knees,  her  head  in  her  hands. 

All  the  little  men,  witnesses  of  this  scene,  shed 
tears  on  their  crossbows.  King  Loc  alone  kept  an 
unmoved  face.    Bee,  discovering  in  him  so  much 


114  BEE:    PRINCESS 

magnanimity  and  so  much  kindness,  felt  for  him 
the  love  of  a  daughter  for  a  father.  She  seized 
the  hand  of  her  lover  and  said: 

"  George,  I  love  you:  heaven  only  knows  how 
much  I  love  you.  But  how  can  I  leave  little 
KingLoc?" 

"Ha,  ha!  you  are  both  prisoners  of  mine," 
cried  King  Loc  in  a  terrible  voice. 

He  put  on  a  terrible  voice  by  way  of  amuse- 
ment and  to  play  a  good  joke.  But  really  he  was 
not  angry.  Freeheart  came  to  him  and  bent  a 
knee  to  the  ground. 

**  Sir,"  he  said,  "  will  your  Highness  be  pleased 
to  let  me  share  the  captivity  of  the  master  I 
serve?  " 

Bee,  recognising  him,  said  to  him: 

"  It  is  you,  my  good  Freeheart.  I  am  pleased 
to  see  you  again.  You  are  wearing  a  very  ugly 
feather.  Tell  me,  have  you  composed  any  new 
songs?  " 

And  King  Loc  took  them  all  three  off  to  dinner. 


1\ 


OF  THE  DWARFS  115 

CHAPTER  XXI 

IN   WHICH   ALL   ENDS   WELL 

The  next  day  George  and  Freeheart  dressed 
themselves  in  sumptuous  clothes  which  the 
dwarfs  had  prepared  for  them,  and  betook  them- 
selves to  the  Hall  of  State  where  King  Loc,  in 
the  dress  of  an  Emperor,  soon  came  to  join  them 
as  he  had  promised.  He  was  followed  by  his 
ofiicers  wearing  arms,  and  furs  of  a  wild  magni- 
ficence, and  helmets  on  which  swan-wings  waved. 
The  dwarfs,  thronging  in  crowds,  came  in  by  the 
windows,  the  ventilators,  and  the  chimneys,  and 
even  crept  under  the  seats. 

King  Loc  got  up  on  a  stone  table,  at  the  end 
of  which  were  drawn  up  rows  of  flagons,  candle- 
sticks, bowls,  and  cups  of  fine  gold  and  of  mar- 
vellous workmanship.  He  motioned  to  Bee  and 
to  George  to  come  near,  and  said: 

*'  Bee,  a  law  of  the  Dwarf  people  requires  that 
a  stranger  received  within  our  house  should  be 
free  at  the  end  of  seven  full  years.  You  have 
spent  seven  years  in  our  midst.  Bee,  and  I  woulr" 
be  a  bad  citizen  and  a  guilty  king  if  I  detained 
you  longer.  But  before  I  let  you  go  away,  I  wish, 
not  having  been  able  to  marry  you,  to  betroth 


ii6  BEE:     PRINCESS 

you  myself  to  the  man  you  have  chosen.  I  do  so 
with  joy,  because  I  love  you  more  than  myself, 
and  my  pain,  if  any  is  left,  is  like  a  little  shadow 
unnoticed  in  my  happiness.  Bee  of  the  Clarides, 
Princess  of  the  Dwarfs,  give  me  your  hand;  and 
you,  George  of  the  White  Moor,  give  me  yours." 

Having  put  the  hand  of  George  in  that  of  Bee, 
King  Loc  turned  to  his  people  and  said  in  a  loud 
voice : 

"  Little  men,  my  children,  you  are  witnesses 
that  these  two  here  undertake  mutually  to  marry 
each  other  on  earth.  Let  them  return  there  to- 
gether and  together  bring  forth  deeds  of  courage, 
modesty,  and  faithfulness,  as  good  gardeners  tend 
and  bring  to  flower  roses,  carnations  and  peonies/' 

At  these  words  the  dwarfs  shouted  loudly,  and, 
not  knowing  whether  they  ought  to  lament  or  to 
rejoice,  they  were  distracted  by  contrary  feelings. 
King  Loc  turned  again  to  the  two  betrothed,  and 
showing  them  the  bowls, 
the  flagons,  all  the  splendid 
plate : 

''These,"  he  said,  ''are 
the  presents  of  the  dwarfs. 
Take  them.  Bee,  they  will  recall  your  httle 
friends;  they  are  given  by  them  and  not  by  me. 
You  will  know  in  a  moment  what  I  mean  to 
give  you." 


OF  THE  DWARFS  117 

There  was  a  long  silence.  King  Loc  gazed  with 
a  lovely  look  of  tenderness  at  Bee,  whose  beauti- 
ful radiant  head,  crowned  with  roses,  rested  on 
the  shoulder  of  her  betrothed. 

Then  he  spoke  again  in  these  terms: 

''  Children,  it  is  not  enough  to  love  much;  you 
must  love  well.  Great  love  is  good,  undoubtedly; 
wise  love  is  better.  May  yours  be  as  mild  as  it 
is  strong;  may  it  want  nothing,  not  even  indul- 
gence, and  may  some  pity  be  mingled  with  it. 
You  are  young,  beautiful  and  good;  but  you  are 
human,  and,  for  that  very  reason,  subject  to 
many  miseries.  This  is  why,  if  some  pity  does 
not  form  part  of  the  feelings  you  have  for  each 
other,  these  feelings  will  not  be  adapted  to  the 
circumstances  of  your  common  life;  they  will 
be  like  holiday  clothes  which  are  no  protection 
against  the  wind  and  the  rain.  You  only  love 
those  securely  whom  you  love  even  in  their 
weaknesses  and  meannesses.  Mercy,  forgiveness, 
consolation,  that  is  love  and  all  its  science." 

King  Loc  stopped,  overcome  by  sweet  and 
powerful  emotions.    He  resumed  his  speech: 

"  Children,  be  happy.  Keep  your  happiness, 
keep  it  carefully." 

While  he  spoke.  Pic,  Tad,  Die,  Bob,  True,  and 
Paw,  chnging  to  Bee's  white  mantle,  covered 
with  kisses  the  girl's  naked  arms  and  hands. 


ii8   BEE:  PRINCESS  OF  THE  DWARFS 

And  they  begged  her  not  to  leave  them.  Then 
King  Log  drew  from  his  belt  a  ring,  the  stone  of 
which  flung  showers  of  light.  It  was  the  magic 
ring  with  which  he  had  opened  the  dungeon  of 
the  Sylphs.  He  slipped  Bee's  finger  through  it, 
and  said : 

"  Bee,  receive  at  my  hands  this  ring,  which  will 
allow  you  to  enter  at  all   times,  you  and  your 

husband,  the  kingdom  of  the  dwarfs.    You 
<^  will  be  received  with  delight  and  helped 

in  every  way.  On  the  other  hand,  teach 
the  children  you  will  have  not  to  despise  the 
innocent  and  industrious  little  men  who  live 
under  the  earth." 


LOOKING    BACKWARD 

Now  that  we  know  all  about  Princess  Bee,  we 

may  find  it  pleasant  to  look  backward  and  think 

a  little  about  the  story,  chapter 

Chapter  L      by  chapter,  to  find  out    whether 

it  has  come  to  stay  in  our  minds. 

Some  stories  do  and  others  don't.    We  are  glad 

to  forget  some  stories,  but  I  do  not  think  that 

the  story  of  Bee  is  one  of  that  kind.    Besides, 

it  is  told  with  such  loving  carefulness  that,  for 

the  sake  of  the  writer,  who  wrote  that  he  might 

please  and  inspire  us,  we  ought  to  read  it  again 

with  a  quiet  mind,  undisturbed  by  any  thought 

of  what  is  going  to  happen  next;    for  now  we 

know  all  about  that. 

It  is  a  story  of  that  wonder  time  so  often 
spoken  of  as  "  long,  long  ago,"  and  its  date  does 
not  matter ;  but  you  will  see  from  the  first  chap- 
ter that  it  belongs  to  the  time  of  the  knights, 
the  best  of  whom  tried  to  remedy  things  that 
were  wrong  and  make  the  world  a  finer  place  in 
which  to  live. 

Do  you  like  the  Countess  of  the  White  Moor? 
And  why  ?  How  much  older  was  George  than  Bee  ? 

119 


120  LOOKING  BACKWARD 

Read  over  several  times  the  description  of  the 
estates   of  the   Duchess  of   Clarides   (there   are 
three  bites  to  this  cherry).    It  is 
Chapter  IL      such  a  good  "  pen-picture  *'  and 
there  are  many  more  in  this  story 
for  which  you  ought  to  watch  with  care.   The  old 
monk  in  the  tower  with  his  birds  and  his  books 
is  worth  thinking  about  and  so  are  his  rules;   so 
also  are  the  rules  of  the  Duchess.     There  is  a 
good   *' pen-picture '*   with   two   trees   and^  two 
children  in  it.    I  wonder  if  you  could  sketch  it  ? 
Do  they  teach  falconry  in  your  school?    If  not, 
you  might  at  least  try  to  find  out  something  about 
it,  for  it  was  a  fascinating  sport 
Chapter  IIL      — except,  of  course,  for  the  little 
birds  —  much  better  fun   than 
learning  several  styles  of  handwriting  or  getting 
*'  grammatical   instruction  with   barbarous   ter- 
minology."   What  a  lovely  jumble  of  big  words! 
What  about  that  sentence,  "affectionate  lessons 
are  the  only  good  lessons''?     And  whatever  is 
*'  inebriety  "  ?    It  must  be  something  very  dread- 
ful.    I  fancy  it  is  something  catching  and  can 
most  easily  be  caught  at  "Tin-jugs,''  and  "Red 
Lions,"  and  "  Indian  Queens,"  and  "  Bull  and 
Bushes,"  and  suchlike  places  where  they  know 
absolutely  nothing  about  synecdoche  or  aposio- 
pesis  either. 


LOOKING  BACKWARD  I2r 

There  are  some  lovely  colours  in  the  first  bit 
of  this  chapter.  Perhaps  you  could  get  someone 
to  make  a  colour-sketch?  And 
Chapter  IV.  pearls  have  a  *'mild  splendour," 
haven't  they,  quite  different 
from  diamonds  or  rubies?  If  you  are  a  girl 
wouldn't  you  hke  to  have  a  hair-ribbon  like  Bee's  ? 
George  and  Bee  were  taught  a  beautiful  lesson 
that  morning,  and  learnt  it,  too.  I  wish  we  could 
all  describe  beautiful  scenery  as  beautifully  as 
the  Duchess  could — and,  by-the-way,  look  care- 
fully at  the  iris  flower  when  you  meet  with  one 
again.  Sylphs?  Have  you  another  name  for  them  ? 
What  a  sounding  title  the  old  beggar-woman  gave 
herself,  and  what  a  well  furnished  kitchen  she 
had !  Have  you  a  pipkin  and  a  caldron  at  home  ? 
What  are  the  duties  of  Dwarfs? 

Have  you  ever  noticed  that  hills  and  woods 

are  reaUy  "  blue  in  the  distance  "  ?    A  great  many 

writers  have  done  so.     What  a 

Chapter  V.      charming  definition  (horrid  word) 

Princess  Bee  gave  of  the  horizon, 

and  how  differently  she  thought  of  the  bigness 

of  the  world  from  George.     Do  you  think  they 

would   find   lobsters  by  fishing  under  the   old 

stone   bridge?     (Perhaps,   however,  this   is  too 

severe  a  question  for  a  tale  about  "  long,  long 

ago.")     Those  forbidden  Sylphs  were  still  in  the 


122  LOOKING  BACKWARD 

children's  minds,  but  Bee  had  less  fear  than 
George — or  was  she  daring  George  to  go  ?  Which 
of  the  two  children  was  the  best  quarreller? 

And  now,  who  is  the  brave  adventurer?    There 
is    a   pretty   picture    of   which   the    "  Headless 
Woman  "  is  the  centre.     Read 
Chapter  VL      the  description  again  and  again 
and   look   at   the   picture   with 
closed  eyes.     There  is  another  with  Bee  in  the 
centre,  holding  out  her  skirt  for  the  cherries. 
Bee's  teachers  had  not  taught  her  economics, 
had  they?      It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  more 
charming  description  of  a  walk  than  is  contained 
in  this  chapter.    Bee  is  soon  plunged  in  despair, 
but  George  is  a  little  Greatheart  and  soon  has 
his  reward.     Read  slowly  and  more  than  once 
the  description  of  the  lake.    The  sudden  appear- 
ance of  the  goose-girl  gives  us  another  pretty 
picture.  What  is  a  demijohn?    How  does  Bee  tell 
us  that  the  day  is  waning?    Consider  the  words 
"  Reeds,   like   pliant   swords,"    and   the   pretty 
coloured  flower-picture  at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 
George  still  plays  the  part  of  Greatheart  man- 
fully and  is  ready  for  any  event,  having  used  his 
observing  powers  on  the  fruits 
Chapter  VIL      and  berries  like  a  Boy  Scout. 
Think    of    that    sharp  picture 
against  the  pale  sky  of  evening — "  a  Uttle  dwarf 


LOOKING  BACKWARD  123 

riding  on  a  crow."  Then  of  the  changing  picture 
— Uke  a  lovely  scene  in  a  play — as  night  falls 
upon  the  lake.  See  how  the  Sylphs  come  while 
thfe  boy  stands  entranced.  Did  he  remember  the 
words  of  Bee's  mother  as  he  was  carried  "  through 
the  waters,  in  halls  of  crystal  and  porphyry"? 
And  what  a  lovely  word  the  last  one  is ! 

It  would  be  good  fun  to  try  to  draw  a  dwarf 
from  the  description  given  at  the  beginning  of 

this    chapter,    helped    by    a 
Chapter  VIIL      glance   at   some   of  the   little 

pictures  in  this  book.  Can't 
you  feel  how  quick  the  dwarfs  were  as  you  say 
the  words  "  incredible  nimbleness/'  rolling  them 
round  your  tongue  ?  I  wonder  what  it  means  to 
"  look  like  an  old  poet."  Pic's  last  sentence,  at 
all  events,  is  very  Uke  poetry.  Rug  is  very  good 
at  argument  and  at  sticking  to  his  own  opinion. 
Tad  is  a  dwarf  of  character — ''Justice  should 
prevail,  and  not  custom."  As  for  Pan,  he  might 
have  been  a  very  sensible  father,  mightn't  he? 
There  is  a  pretty  picture  when  Bee  raises  herself 
upon  her  elbow  and  another  one  of  a  different 
kind  when  Pic  stands  upon  his  dignity  (to  make 
himself  taller)  and  speaks  the  sounding  sentence 
which  begins,  "  She  is  only  a  child."  And  what 
a  depth  of  real  truth  there  is  in  Tad's  words, 
"  You  will  consider  us  less  ugly  when  you  like 


124  LOOKING   BACKWARD 

us  better."  No  one  who  is  loved  can  be  ugly  to 
the  one  who  loves. 

And  what  a  sad  reproach  there  is  in  Tad's 
words  to  Rug:  "  You  are  more  like  a  man  than 
a  dwarf."  This  chapter  ends  with  another 
charming  picture. 

How  many  colours  or  tints  are  mentioned  in 
the  first  paragraph  of  this  chapter?  In  the  next 
paragraph  poetry  and  gentle  fun 
Chapter  IX.  have  kissed  each  other.  A  dwarf 
of  "great  majesty"?  Oh,  yes. 
Majesty  is  not  a  matter  of  inches.  The  dwarf 
monarch  understood  little  girls  in  a  wonderful 
way  and  Bee  was  soon  at  her  ease  as  every  guest 
is  who  asks  for  a  pair  of  slippers,  right  off.  The 
next  thing  such  a  guest  would  do  would  be  to 
poke  the  fire!  The  illustrious  Belisarius?  He 
was  a  famous  general  who  won  many  victories 
in  Italy  and  the  East,  and  was  brave,  generous, 
just  and  faithful  and  afraid  of  nothing  but  his 
wife.  Bee  was  just  a  little  ungracious  about 
those  slippers,  don't  you  think?  But  there  was 
some  excuse  for  her — she  did  want  to  be  at  home 
again.  It  would  be  a  lovely  arrangement  if  those 
who  love  each  other  could  exchange  dreams  when 
they  are  parted  for  a  time.  Some  people  say 
they  do,  and  possibly  the  dwarf  poet  believed  it 
to  be  possible. 


LOOKING  BACKWARD  125 

It  was  a  strange  but  beautiful  underground 

world  in  which  the  dwarfs  had  their  home.   Why 

lava   pavement?      Bee's   lessons 

Chapter  X,      must  have  been  fascinating.     If 

only  we  could  all  learn  without 

books!     Then  perhaps  we  also  should  '*  move 

with  grace  and  express  ourselves  according  to 

the  rule  of  poetry."     What  a  delightful  picture 

of  a  puppet  show  is  given  in  this  chapter !   There 

are  clever  men  and  women  to-day  who  can  make 

dolls  act  in  this  way.   Read  the  description  again, 

for  it  is  well  worth  while.    Wouldn't  you  like  to 

play  the  theorbo?     It  has  a  lovely  name.    Did 

the  dwarfs  change  as  the  days  and  months  passed 

and  the  years  made  their  round  ? 

The  deep,  deep  darkness  between  the  rocky 
walls  makes  the  light  shine  all  the  brighter,  and 
Bee's  exclamation  might  be  that 
Chapters  XL     of  a  blind  girl  whose   sight  is 
and  XIL        suddenly   restored.      Have   you 
ever  seen  a  chalice,  a  pyx,  or  a 
patin,  and  would  you  know  them  if  you  saw  them 
again?    Or  a  thurible?     And  wouldn't  you  like 
that  set  of  moonstone  chessmen?    What  a  won- 
derful description  of  a  coffer  full  of  jewels!    Yet, 
with  all  this  wealth  before  her  Bee  chooses  to 
go  back  to  earth  and  into  the  sunshine  back  to 
her  mother  and  George  of  the  White  Moor,  more 


126  LOOKING  BACKWARD 

precious  than  pearls.  Read  again  and  again,  nay, 
learn  by  heart  what  King  Loc  said  to  Bee  after 
he  had  tested  her — for  he  was  only  testing  her 
all  the  time.  Was  there  ever  such  a  proposal 
of  marriage?  But  little  King  Loc  has  his  own 
dignity — also  his  hopes. 

Who  would  be  a  princess  and  wear  a  crown 
which  interfered  with  flowing  locks  and  merry 
gambols?    The  story-teller 
Chapter  XIIL      strikes  a  sad  note.     Bee  and 
the   little   king  are   both  un- 
happy and  there  is  a  pathetic  and  very  beautiful 
picture  of  the  princess  gazing  on  the  sunbeam; 
another  of  her  arrival  on  earth  again.   The  king's 
instructions  are  difficult  and  there  is  danger  in 
them.    The  journey  home  is  fascinating,  remind- 
ing us  of  Peter  and  Wendy  on  the  way  to  the 
Land  of  Lost  Boys;  so  also  is  the  arrival  home, 
which  is  fully  described.    But  the  sad  ending  is 
told  in  a  few  curt  words.    It  is  much  too  pitiful 
for  a  long  description. 

Is  this  story  beginning  to  remind  you  of  an 
old,  old  tale  told  long  ago  among  the  Ancient 
Greeks,  a  tale  of  a  lost  prin- 
Chapter  XIV.      cess  carried  off  to  the  Under- 
world by  Pluto  and  mourned 
on  earth  by  Ceres,  the  goddess  of  the  corn?     If 
you  happen  to  know  that  old,  old  story  you  will 


LOOKING  BACKWARD  127 

be  able  to  make  interesting  comparisons.  But 
to  return  to  King  Loc.  The  secret  comes  out. 
Did  Bee  know  that  she  loved  George  of  the  White 
Moor  when  King  Loc  had  asked  her,  long  before, 
whether  she  loved  anyone  else?  Havejyow  known 
Bee's  secret  all  along?  The  effect  of  her  declara- 
tion is  rather  piteous — with  a  smile  behind  the 
sadness.  King  Loc's  exit  is  very  dignified  and 
dramatic  and,  by  the  way,  what  an  excellent  play 
could  be  made  from  this  story,  or  a  series  of 
tableaux. 

Poor  King  Loc  cannot  understand  the  situation. 
He  is  a  king,  he  has  learning,  wealth,  and  merit. 

Why,  therefore,  does  not  Bee 
Chapter  XV.      love  him?    Further,  he  is  good 

and  wishes  to  be  just.  Poor 
little  King  Loc!  Nur  introduces  and  describes 
himself  in  a  speech  worth  learning  and  remem- 
bering. His  long  speech  about  ourselves  is  full 
of  wisdom  and  warning.  Read  it  again  and  again. 
The  last  portion  is  very  beautiful.  And  what  a 
wonderful  way  the  dwarfs  had  of  finding  things 
out  without  books.  George  of  the  Moor  was 
easily  traced.  King  Loc  is  very  undwarflike  or, 
let  us  say,  very  human  when  he  learns  where 
George  is.  But  would  the  laugh  of  these  Httle 
creatures  even  in  unison  be  a  "  jovial  great  guf- 
faw "?     Surely  it  is  only  jolly  giants  who  make 


128  LOOKING  BACKWARD 

great  guffaws.  Perhaps  you  can  describe  the 
dwarf  laughter  in  a  better  way.  What  do  you 
think  the  writer  means  by  making  Nur  live  in  a 
deep  well? 

There  is  an  interesting  glimpse  of  one  of  the 
duties  of  the  dwarfs  in  the  first  paragraph  of  this 

chapter.     Have  you  read  Mrs. 
Chapter  XVI.      Evdng's  Lob-lie-by -the- Fire}    If 

not,  get  it  from  the  library 
and  read  about  what  one  of  our  poets  calls  "  the 
lubber-fiend.''  Dwarf  madness  seems  to  be  an 
amiable  thing.  *' A  shell  of  mother-of-pearl 
irisaled/'  Remember  that  Iris  was  the  Greek 
goddess  of  the  rainbow.  George  was  no  more 
happy  among  the  beauties  of  the  sea-world  than 
was  Bee  among  the  treasures  of  the  caves,  and 
he  learnt  the  same  lesson  as  she  did.  You  will 
find  it  in  the  sentence  which  begins:  "The 
years  went  by.''  Compare  King  Loc  with  the 
Princess  of  the  Sylphs.  Achilles  was  the  Greek 
hero  who  fought  against  Troy  and  killed  their 
champion,  Hector.  Disguised  as  a  girl,  he  was 
once  sent  by  his  mother  to  the  court  of  King 
Lycomedes  because  she  wished  to  prevent  his 
setting  out  for  the  Siege  of  Troy.  Tannhauser 
is  the  hero  of  the  German  story,  who  visited 
the  court  of  Venus,  the  Goddess  of  Love,  and 
there  forgot  everything  but  pleasure;    but  later 


LOOKING  BACKWARD  129 

he  repented.  The  story  is  set  to  music  in  Wagner's 
opera.  George  was  not  the  first,  nor  the  last,  to 
be  saved  from  slackness  and  inspired  to  deeds  of 
courage  by  a  book.  Compare  his  request  to  be 
set  free  with  that  of  Bee  in  a  former  part  of  the 
story.  What  do  you  think  about  Nur's  opinion 
on  science  and  poetry? 

What  is  the  *' bezel "  of  a  ring?     And  how 
would  you  like  to  go  boating  on  a  petroleum 
lake?     There  is  a  wonderful 
Chapter  XVII.     description  of  King  Loc's  jour- 
ney through  the  sea  cavern. 
Does  it  recall  any  piece  of  literature,  prose  or 
verse,  song  or  story.    There  is  a  good  picture  in 
the  story  of  the  meeting  of  George  and  his  rival. 
Aristotle   was   a   Greek   philosopher  who   knew 
almost  everything  there  was  to  be  known.     If 
King  Loc  had  belonged  to  our  time  we  should 
call  him  a  "  sport."     But  it  was  too  much  to 
hurl  Bee's  name  at  him  without  any  preparation. 
On  the  whole  the  shadows  of  the  story  appear 
to  be  hfting  in  this  chapter,  don't  they? 

John's  exclamation  was  not  quite  polite.   If  he 

did  not  see  a  ghost  he  might  have  guessed  that 

it  was  an  angel.    The  people 

Chapter  XVIIL      had  given  a  natural  cause  for 

the  disappearance  of  George, 

but  explained  Bee's  absence  in  a  more  wonderful 


130  LOOKING  BACKWARD 

and  mysterious  way,  with  a  touch  of  poetry.  The 
home-coming  of  George  has  various  effects,  ac- 
cording to  the  character  of  the  people  he  meets. 
Freeheart  back  again,  too,  and  still  at  his  old 
game  of  "  making  a  song  about  it  " !  The  light 
grows  brighter  and  brighter. 

It  was  the  common  people  who  were  expected 

to  know  all  about   the   habits   of  the   dwarfs. 

Glauce  is  good  fun  and  a  clever 

Chapter  XIX,      girl  would  love  to  act  her  part 

in  a  play;   she  is  by  no  means 

unimportant  in  the  story.     Cider  added  to  oats 

for  a  horse!     I  wonder  what  Glauce  meant  by 

''drinking  fair"?      And  what   the  neighbours 

said  afterwards  about  her  late  husband's  story? 

An   "  espadon  ''  must  be   a  terrible  weapon, 

judging  by  its  name.     Avalon 

Chapter  XX,      lies  at  the  farthest  verge  of  the 

western  sea  and  is  the  last  home 

of  all  good  knights,  including  King  Arthur: 

The  island-valley  of  Avilion; 
Where  falls  not  hail,  or  rain,  or  any  snow. 
Nor  ever  wind  blows  loudly:  but  it  lies 
Deep-meadowed,  happy,  fair  with  orchard-lawns 
And  bowery  hollows  crowned  with  summer  sea. 

And  Thule  is  the  northernmost  land  of  all  the 
world.  Freeheart's  ideas  of  costume  are  quite 
original;   but  his  notion  of  wine-inspired  courage 


LOOKING  BACKWARD  131 

is  not  so  praiseworthy.  He  is,  however,  a  better 
diplomatist  than  George,  and  has  a  very  charm- 
ing way  of  teUing  the  young  lover  that  he  has 
been  foolishly  rude.  George's  entry,  reception, 
and  meeting  with  little  King  Loc  make  a  splendid 
moving  picture.  Disappointment  in  love  has  not 
soured  the  little  king,  but  has  made  him  some- 
thing of  a  poet;  and  how  gently  he  reproves  the 
hot-headed  George!  How  kind  George  is,  too, 
in  the  midst  of  his  happiness.  And  all  ends  in 
mock-heroics  and  good  fun. 

The  last  scene  of  all  makes  one  long  to  have 
a  play  based  upon  this  story.    Who  would  not 

be  proud  to  act  King  Loc  and 
Chapter  XXL      have  such  a  lofty  mind?     It 

would  be  difficult,  of  course, 
to  get  together  such  a  wedding  present  as  he 
gave  Bee,  but  the  players  could  easily  agree  to 
play  the  game  of  "  Let's  pretend,"  as  Shakespeare 
did  when  he  hung  up  a  card,  on  the  curtain, 
bearing  the  words,  "  This  is  a  wood." 

A  true  story?  Well — what  is  it  all  about?  It 
is  a  story  of  mother-love,  child-love,  and  lover's 
love.  It  is  full  of  kindliness,  courage,  gaiety, 
forgiveness,  compassion,  helpfulness,  resource, 
and  fortitude.  And  these  things  have  always 
been  true,  are  true  to-day  and  will  be  true  long. 


132  LOOKING   BACKWARD 

long  after  we  all  reach  the  "  island  valley  of 
Avilion."  So,  what  greater  truth  could  we  ask 
for? 

We  give  here  for  purposes  of  enjoyment  and 
comparison  a  prose  story  and  a  poem,  both  of 
which  tell  the  story  of  the  Greek  maiden  who  was 
carried  off  to  the  dark  Underworld,  but  who, 
unlike  Bee,  became  the  bride  of  its  king;  also 
another  story  of  dwarfs  and  their  ways. 


THE  SORROW  OF  DEMETER 

In  the  fields  of  Enna,  in  the  happy  island  of 
Sicily,  the  beautiful  Persephone  was  playing 
with  the  girls  who  Uved  there  with  her.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  the  Lady  Demeter,  and  every 
one  loved  them  both ;  for  Demeter  was  good  and 
kind  to  aD,  and  no  one  could  be  more  gentle  and 
merry  than  Persephone.  She  and  her  companions 
were  gathering  flowers  from  the  field,  to  make 
crowns  for  their  long  flowing  hair.  They  had 
picked  many  roses  and  lilies  and  hyacinths  which 
grew  in  clusters  around  them,  when  Persephone 
thought  she  saw  a  splendid  flower  far  off;  and 
away  she  ran,  as  fast  as  she  could,  to  get  it.  It 
was  a  beautiful  narcissus,  with  a  hundred  heads 
springing  from  one  stem ;  and  the  perfume  which 
came  from  its  flowers  gladdened  the  broad  hea- 
ven above,  and  the  earth  and  sea  around  it. 
Eagerly  Persephone  stretched  out  her  hand  to 
take  this  splendid  prize,  when  the  earth  opened, 
and  a  chariot  stood  before  her  drawn  by  four 
coal-black  horses;  and  in  the  chariot  there  was 
a  man  with  a  dark  and  solemn  face,  which  looked 

133 


134  THE  SORROW  OF  DEMETER 

as  though  he  could  never  smile,  and  as  though  he 
had  never  been  happy.  In  a  moment  he  got  out 
of  his  chariot,  seized  Persephone  round  the  waist, 
and  put  her  on  the  seat  by  his  side.  Then  he 
touched  the  horses  with  his  whip,  and  they  drew 
the  chariot  down  into  the  great  gulf,  and  the 
earth  closed  over  them  again. 

Presently  the  girls  who  had  been  playing  with 
Persephone  came  up  to  the  place  where  the  beau- 
tiful narcissus  was  growing;  but  they  could  not 
see  her  anywhere.  And  they  said,  "  Here  is  the 
very  flower  which  she  ran  to  pick,  and  there  is 
no  place  here  where  she  can  be  hiding."  Still  for 
a  long  time  they  searched  for  her  through  the 
fields  of  Enna ;  and  when  the  evening  was  come, 
they  went  home  to  tell  the  Lady  Demeter  that 
they  could  not  tell  what  had  become  of  Perse- 
phone. 

Very  terrible  was  the  sorrow  of  Demeter  when 
she  was  told  that  her  child  was  lost.  She  put  a 
dark  robe  on  her  shoulders,  and  took  a  flaming 
torch  in  her  hand,  and  went  over  land  and  sea 
to  look  for  Persephone.  But  no  one  could  tell 
her  where  she  was  gone.  When  ten  days  were 
passed  she  met  Hekate,  and  asked  her  about  her 
child;  but  Hekate  said,  *'  I  heard  her  voice,  as 
she  cried  out  when  some  one  seized  her;  but  I 
did  not  see  it  with  my  eyes,  and  so  I  know  not 


THE  SORROW  OF  DEMETER     135 

where  she  is  gone."  Then  she  went  to  Helios, 
and  said  to  him,  "  O  Helios,  tell  me  about  my 
child.  Thou  seest  everything  on  the  earth,  sitting 
in  the  bright  sun."  Then  HeUos  said  to  Demeter, 
"  I  pity  thee  for  thy  great  sorrow,  and  I  will  tell 
thee  the  truth.  It  is  Hades  who  has  taken  away 
Persephone  to  be  his  wife  in  the  dark  and  gloomy 
land  which  hes  beneath  in  the  earth." 

Then  the  rage  of  Demeter  was  more  terrible 
than  her  sorrow  had  been;  and  she  would  not 
stay  in  the  palace  of  Zeus,  on  the  great  Thessa- 
lian  hill,  because  it  was  Zeus  who  had  allowed 
Hades  to  take  away  Persephone.  So  she  went 
down  from  Olympus,  and  wandered  on  a  long 
way  until  she  came  to  Eleusis,  just  as  the  sun 
was  going  down  into  his  golden  cup  behind  the 
dark  blue  hills.  There  Demeter  sat  down  close 
to  a  fountain,  where  the  water  bubbled  out  from 
the  green  turf  and  fell  into  a  clear  basin,  over 
which  some  dark  olive-trees  spread  their  branches. 

Just  then  the  daughters  of  Keleos,  the  king 
of  Eleusis,  came  to  the  fountain  with  pitchers  on 
their  heads  to  draw  water;  and  when  they  saw 
Demeter,  they  knew  from  her  face  that  she 
must  have  some  great  grief  ;  and  they  spoke 
kindly  to  her,  and  asked  if  they  could  do  anything 
to  help  her.  Then  she  told  them  how  she  had 
lost  and  was  searching  for  her  child;    and  they 


136  THE  SORROW  OF  DEMETER 

said,  "  Come  home  and  live  with  us:  and  our 
father  and  mother  will  give  you  everything  that 
you  can  want,  and  do  all  that  they  can  to  soothe 
your  sorrow/'  So  Demeter  went  down  to  the 
house  of  Keleos,  and  she  stayed  there  for  a  whole 
year.  And  all  this  time,  although  the  daughters 
of  Keleos  were  very  gentle  and  kind  to  her,  she 
went  on  mourning  and  weeping  for  Persephone. 
She  never  laughed  or  smiled,  and  scarcely 
ever  did  she  speak  to  any  one,  because  of  her 
great  grief.  And  even  the  earth,  and  the  things 
which  grow  on  the  earth,  mourned  for  the  sorrow 
which  had  come  upon  Demeter.  There  was  no 
fruit  upon  the  trees,  no  corn  came  up  in  the 
fields,  and  no  flowers  blossomed  in  the  gardens. 
And  Zeus  looked  down  from  his  high  Thessalian 
hill,  and  saw  that  everything  must  die  unless  he 
could  soothe  the  grief  and  anger  of  Demeter. 
So  he  sent  Hermes  down  to  Hades,  the  dark  and 
stern  king,  to  bid  him  send  Persephone  to  see 
her  mother  Demeter.  But  before  Hades  let  her 
go,  he  gave  her  a  pomegranate  to  eat,  because 
he  did  not  wish  her  to  stay  away  from  him 
always,  and  he  knew  that  she  must  come  back 
if  she  tasted  but  one  of  the  pomegranate  seeds. 
Then  the  great  chariot  was  brought  before  the 
door  of  the  palace,  and  Hermes  touched  with 
his  whip  the  coal-black  horses,  and  away  they 


THE  SORROW  OF  DEMETER     137 

went  as  swiftly  as  the  wind,  until  they  came  close 
to  Eleusis.  Then  Hermes  left  Persephone,  and 
the  coal-black  horses  drew  the  chariot  away 
again  to  the  dark  home  of  King  Hades. 

The  sun  was  sinking  down  in  the  sky  when 
Hermes  left  Persephone,  and  as  she  came  near 
to  the  fountain  she  saw  someone  sitting  near  it 
in  a  long  black  robe,  and  she  knew  that  it  must 
be  her  mother  who  still  wept  and  mourned  for 
her  child.  And  as  Demeter  heard  the  rustling  of 
her  dress,  she  lifted  up  her  face,  and  Persephone 
stood  before  her. 

Then  the  joy  of  Demeter  was  greater,  as  she 
clasped  her  daughter  to  her  breast,  than  her 
grief  and  her  sorrow  had  been.  Again  and  again 
she  held  Persephone  in  her  arms,  and  asked  her 
about  all  that  had  happened  to  her.  And  she 
said,  "  Now  that  you  are  come  back  to  me,  I 
shall  never  let  you  go  away  again;  Hades  shall 
not  have  my  child  to  live  with  him  in  his  dreary 
kingdom."  But  Persephone  said,  "  It  may  not 
be  so,  my  mother;  I  cannot  stay  with  you 
always;  for  before  Hermes  brought  me  away  to 
see  you.  Hades  gave  me  a  pomegranate,  and  I 
have  eaten  some  of  the  seeds;  and  after  tasting 
the  seed  I  must  go  back  to  him  again  when  six 
months  have  passed  by.  And  indeed,  I  am  not 
afraid  to  go;    for  although  Hades  never  smiles 


138     THE  SORROW  OF  DEMETER 

or  laughs,  and  everything  in  his  palace  is  dark 
and  gloomy,  still  he  is  very  kind  to  me:  and  I 
think  that  he  feels  almost  happy  since  I  have 
been  his  wife.  But  do  not  be  sorry,  my  mother, 
for  he  has  promised  to  let  me  come  up  and  stay 
with  you  for  six  months  in  every  year,  and  the 
other  six  months  I  must  spend  with  him  in  the 
land  which  lies  beneath  the  earth." 

So  Demeter  was  comforted  for  her  daughter 
Persephone,  and  the  earth  and  all  the  things 
that  grew  in  it  felt  that  her  anger  and  sorrow  had 
passed  away.  Once  more  the  trees  bore  their 
fruits,  the  flowers  spread  out  their  sweet  blos- 
soms in  the  garden,  and  the  golden  com  waved 
hke  the  sea  under  the  soft  summer  breeze.  So 
the  six  months  passed  happily  away,  and  then 
Hermes  came  with  the  coal-black  horses  to  take 
Persephone  to  the  dark  land.  And  she  said  to 
her  mother,  "Do  not  weep  much;  the  gloomy 
king  whose  wife  I  am  is  so  kind  to  me  that  I  can- 
not be  really  unhappy;  and  in  six  months  more 
he  will  let  me  come  to  you  again."  But  still, 
whenever  the  time  came  round  for  Persephone 
to  go  back  to  Hades,  Demeter  thought  of  the 
happy  days  when  her  child  was  a  merry  girl 
pla5dng  with  her  companions  and  gathering  the 
bright  flowers  in  the  beautiful  plains  of  Enna. 


THE    KING    OF   THE    GOLDEN 

MOUNTAIN 

FROM   "  GRIMM'S   fairy   TALES  *' 

There  was  once  a  merchant  who  had  only  one 
child,  a  son,  that  was  very  young,  and  barely 
able  to  run  alone.  He  had  two  richly  laden  ships 
then  making  a  voyage  upon  the  seas,  in  which 
he  had  embarked  all  his  wealth,  in  the  hope  of 
making  great  gains,  when  the  news  came  that 
both  were  lost.  Thus  from  being  a  rich  man  he 
became  all  at  once  so  very  poor  that  nothing 
was  left  to  him  but  one  small  plot  of  land;  and 
there  he  often  went  in  an  evening  to  take  his 
walk,  and  ease  his  mind  of  a  little  of  his  trouble. 

One  day,  as  he  was  roaming  along  in  a  brown 
study,  thinking  with  no  great  comfort  on  what 
he  had  been  and  what  he  now  was,  and  was  like 
to  be,  all  on  a  sudden  there  stood  before  him 
a  little  rough-looking  black  dwarf.  "  Prithee, 
friend,  why  so  sorrowful?  "  said  he  to  the  mer- 
chant ;  "  what  is  it  you  take  so  deeply  to  heart  ?  " 

139 


140  THE   KING   OF  THE 

"  If  you  could  do  me  any  good  I  would  willingly 
tell  you,"  said  the  merchant.  "  Who  knows 
but  I  may?  "  said  the  little  man:  "  tell  me  what 
ails  you,  and  perhaps  you  will  find  I  may  be  of 
some  use."  Then  the  merchant  told  him  how  all 
his  wealth  was  gone  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
and  how  he  had  nothing  left  but  that  little  plot 
of  land.  "Oh!  trouble  not  yourself  about  that," 
said  the  dwarf;  "  only  undertake  to  bring  me 
here,  twelve  years  hence,  whatever  meets  you 
first  on  your  going  home,  and  I  will  give  you  as 
much  as  you  please."  The  merchant  thought 
this  was  no  great  thing  to  ask;  that  it  would 
most  Ukely  be  his  dog  or  his  cat,  or  something 
of  that  sort,  but  forgot  his  little  boy  Heinel;  so 
he  agreed  to  the  bargain,  and  signed  and  sealed 
the  bond  to  do  what  was  asked  of  him. 

But  as  he  drew  near  home,  his  little  boy  was 
so  glad  to  see  him  that  he  crept  behind  him,  and 
laid  fast  hold  of  his  legs,  and  looked  up  in  his 
face  and  laughed.  Then  the  father  started, 
trembling  with  fear  and  horror,  and  saw  what 
it  was  that  he  had  bound  himself  to  do;  but  as 
no  gold  was  come,  he  made  himself  easy,  by 
thinking  that  it  was  only  a  joke  that  the  dwarf 
was  playing  him,  and  that,  at  any  rate,  when 
the  money  came,  he  should  see  the  bearer,  and 
would  not  take  it  in. 


GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN  141 

About  a  month  afterwards  he  went  upstairs 
into  a  lumber-room  to  look  for  some  old  iron, 
that  he  might  sell  it  and  raise  a  little  money; 
and  there,  instead  of  his  iron,  he  saw  a  large  pile 
of  gold  lying  on  the  floor.  At  the  sight  of  this  he 
was  overjoyed,  and  forgetting  all  about  his  son, 
went  into  trade  again,  and  became  a  richer  mer- 
chant than  before. 

Meantime  Httle  Heinel  grew  up,  and  as  the 
end  of  the  twelve  years  drew  near  the  merchant 
began  to  call  to  mind  his  bond,  and  became  very 
sad  and  thoughtful;  so  that  care  and  sorrow 
were  written  upon  his  face.  The  boy  one  day 
asked  what  was  the  matter,  but  his  father  would 
not  tell  for  some  time;  at  last,  however,  he  said 
that  he  had,  without  knowing  it,  sold  him  for 
gold  to  a  little,  ugly-looking,  black  dwarf,  and 
that  the  twelve  years  were  coming  round  when 
he  must  keep  his  word.  Then  Heinel  said, 
''  Father,  give  yourself  very  little  trouble  about 
that;   I  shall  be  too  much  for  the  little  man." 

When  the  time  came,  the  father  and  son  went 
out  together  to  the  place  agreed  upon:  and  the 
son  drew  a  circle  on  the  ground,  and  set  himself 
and  his  father  in  the  middle  of  it.  The  little 
black  dwarf  soon  came,  and  walked  round  and 
round  about  the  circle,  but  could  not  find  any 
way  to  get  into  it,  and  he  either  could  not,  or 


142  THE   KING  OF  THE 

dared  not,  jump  over  it.  At  last  the  boy  said  to 
him,  "  Have  you  anything  to  say  to  us,  my 
friend,  or  what  do  you  want?  "  Now  Heinel 
had  found  a  friend  in  a  good  fairy,  that  was  fond 
of  him,  and  had  told  him  what  to  do;  for  this 
fairy  knew  what  good  luck  was  in  store  for  him. 
''  Have  you  brought  me  what  you  said  you 
would?  "  said  the  dwarf  to  the  merchant.  The 
old  man  held  his  tongue,  but  Heinel  said  again, 
"What  do  you  want  here?  '*  The  dwarf  said, 
'*  I  come  to  talk  with  your  father,  not  with  you." 
"  You  have  cheated  and  taken  in  my  father," 
said  the  son;  "pray  give  him  up  his  bond  at 
once."  "  Fair  and  softly,"  said  the  httle  old 
man;  "  right  is  right.  I  have  paid  my  money, 
and  your  father  has  had  it,  and  spent  it;  so  be 
so  good  as  to  let  me  have  what  I  paid  it  for." 
"  You  must  have  my  consent  to  that  first," 
said  Heinel;  "so  please  to  step  in  here,  and 
let  us  talk  it  over."  The  old  man  grinned,  and 
showed  his  teeth,  as  if  he  should  have  been*  very 
glad  to  get  into  the  circle  if  he  could.  Then  at 
last,  after  a  long  talk,  they  came  to  terms.  Heinel 
agreed  that  his  father  must  give  him  up,  and  that 
so  far  the  dwarf  should  have  his  way:  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  fairy  had  told  Heinel  what 
fortune  was  in  store  for  him,  if  he  followed  his 
own  course;   and  he  did  not  choose  to  be  given 


GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN  143 

up  to  his  hump-backed  friend,  who  seemed  so 
anxious  for  his  company. 

So,  to  make  a  sort  of  drawn  battle  of  the  mat- 
ter, it  was  settled  that  Heinel  should  be  put 
into  an  open  boat,  that  lay  on  the  sea-shore  hard 
by;  that  the  father  should  push  him  off  with 
his  own  hand,  and  that  he  should  thus  be  set 
adrift,  and  left  to  the  bad  or  good  luck  of  wind 
and  weather.  Then  he  took  leave  of  his  father, 
and  set  himself  in  the  boat;  but  before  it  got 
far  off  a  wave  struck  it,  and  it  fell  with  one  side 
low  in  the  water,  so  the  merchant  thought  that 
poor  Heinel  was  lost,  and  went  home  very  sor- 
rowful, while  the  dwarf  went  his  way,  thinking 
that  at  any  rate  he  had  had  his  revenge. 

The  boat,  however,  did  not  sink,  for  the  good 
fairy  took  care  of  her  friend,  and  soon  raised 
the  boat  up  again,  and  it  went  safely  on.  The 
young  man  sat  safe  within,  till  at  length  it  ran 
ashore  upon  an  unknown  land.  As  he  jumped 
upon  the  shore  he  saw  before  him  a  beautiful 
castle,  but  empty  and  dreary  within,  for  it  was 
enchanted.  "  Here,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  must 
I  find  the  prize  the  good  fairy  told  me  of."  So 
he  once  more  searched  the  whole  palace  through, 
till  at  last  he  found  a  white  snake,  lying  coiled 
up  on  a  cushion  in  one  of  the  chambers. 

Now  the  white  snake  was  an  enchanted  prin- 


144  THE   KING  OF  THE 

cess;  and  she  was  very  glad  to  see  him,  and  said, 
"  Are  you  at  last  come  to  set  me  free?  Twelve 
long  years  have  I  waited  here  for  the  fairy  to 
bring  you  hither  as  she  promised,  for  you  alone 
can  save  me.  This  night  twelve  men  will  come: 
their  faces  will  be  black,  and  they  will  be  dressed 
in  chain  armour.  They  will  ask  what  you  do 
here,  but  give  no  answer;  and  let  them  do  what 
they  will,  beat,  whip,  pinch,  prick,  or  torment 
you,  bear  all;  only  speak  not  a  word,  and  at 
twelve  o'clock  they  must  go  away.  The  second 
night  twelve  others  will  come:  and  the  third 
night  twenty-four,  who  will  even  cut  off  your 
head;  but  at  the  twelfth  hour  of  that  night  their 
power  is  gone,  and  I  shall  be  free,  and  will  come 
and  bring  you  the  water  of  life,  and  will  wash 
you  with  it,  and  bring  you  back  to  life  and 
health."  And  all  came  to  pass  as  she  had  said; 
Heinel  bore  all,  and  spoke  not  a  word;  and  the 
third  night  the  princess  came,  and  fell  on  his 
neck  and  kissed  him.  Joy  and  gladness  burst 
forth  throughout  the  castle,  the  wedding  was 
celebrated,  and  he  was  crowned  king  of  the 
Golden  Mountain. 

They  lived  together  very  happily,  and  the 
queen  had  a  son.  And  thus  eight  years  had 
passed  over  their  heads,  when  the  king  thought 
of  his  father;    and  he  began  to  long  to  see  him 


GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN  145 

once  again.  But  the  queen  was  against  his 
going,  and  said,  "  I  know  well  that  misfortunes 
will  come  upon  us  if  you  go."  However,  he  gave 
her  no  rest  till  she  agreed.  At  his  going  away 
she  gave  him  a  wishing-ring,  and  said,  "  Take 
this  ring,  and  put  it  on  your  finger,  whatever 
you  wish  it  will  bring  you:  only  promise  never 
to  make  use  of  it  to  bring  me  hence  to  your 
father's  house."  Then  he  said  he  would  do 
what  she  asked,  and  put  the  ring  on  his  finger, 
and  wished  himself  near  the  town  where  his 
father  lived. 

Heinel  found  himself  at  the  gates  in  a  moment; 
but  the  guards  would  not  let  him  go  in,  because 
he  was  so  strangely  clad.  So  he  went  up  to  a 
neighbouring  hill,  where  a  shepherd  dwelt,  and 
borrowed  his  old  frock,  and  thus  passed  un- 
loiown  into  the  town.  When  he  came  to  his 
father's  house,  he  said  he  was  his  son;  but  the 
merchant  would  not  believe  him,  and  said  he 
had  had  but  one  son,  his  poor  Heinel,  who  he 
knew  was  long  since  dead:  and  as  he  was  only 
dressed  like  a  poor  shepherd,  he  would  not  even 
give  him  anything  to  eat.  The  king,  however, 
still  vowed  that  he  was  his  son,  and  said,  "  Is 
there  no  mark  by  which  you  would  know  me  if 
I  am  really  your  son?  "  "  Yes,"  said  his  mother, 
"  our  Heinel  had  a  mark  like  a  raspberry  on  his 

K 


146  THE  KING  OF  THE 

right  arm."  Then  he  showed  them  the  mark, 
and  they  knew  that  what  he  had  said  was  true. 

He  next  told  them  how  he  was  king  of  the 
Golden  Mountain,  and  was  married  to  a  princess, 
and  had  a  son  seven  years  old.  But  the  merchant 
said,  "That  can  never  be  true;  he  must  be  a 
fine  king  truly  who  travels  about  in  a  shepherd's 
frock!  "  At  this  the  son  was  vexed;  and  for- 
getting his  word,  turned  his  ring,  and  wished 
for  his  queen  and  son.  In  an  instant  they  stood 
before  him;  but  the  queen  wept,  and  said  he 
had  broken  his  word,  and  bad  luck  would  follow. 
He  did  all  he  could  to  soothe  her,  and  she  at 
last  seemed  to  be  appeased;  but  she  was  not  so 
in  truth,  and  was  only  thinking  how  she  should 
punish  him. 

One  day  he  took  her  to  walk  with  him  out  of 
the  town,  and  showed  her  the  spot  where  the 
boat  was  set  adrift  upon  the  wide  waters.  Then 
he  sat  himself  down,  and  said,  "  I  am  very 
much  tired;  sit  by  mc,  I  will  lest  my  head  in 
your  lap,  and  sleep  awhile. *'  As  soon  as  he  had 
fallen  asleep,  however,  she  drew  the  ring  from 
his  finger,  and  crept  softly  away,  and  wished 
herself  and  her  son  at  home  in  their  kingdom. 
And  when  he  awoke  he  found  himself  alone,  and 
saw  that  the  ring  was  gone  from  his  finger.  "  I 
can  never  go  back  to  my  father's  house,"  said 


GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN  147 

he,  "  they  would  say  I  am  a  sorcerer  :  I  will 
journey  forth  into  the  world,  till  I  come  again  to 
my  kingdom." 

So  saying,  he  set  out  and  travelled  till  he  came 
to  a  hill,  where  three  giants  were  sharing  their 
father's  goods;  and  as  they  saw  him  pass,  they 
cried  out  and  said,  *'  Little  men  have  sharp 
wits;  he  shall  part  the  goods  between  us."  Now 
there  was  a  sword,  that  cut  off  an  enemy's  head 
whenever  the  wearer  gave  the  words,  "  Heads 
off!  "  a  cloak,  that  made  the  owner  invisible, 
or  gave  him  any  form  he  pleased ;  and  a  pair  of 
boots  that  carried  the  wearer  wherever  he 
wished.  Heinel  said  they  must  first  let  him  try 
these  wonderful  things,  then  he  might  know 
how  to  set  a  value  upon  them.  Then  they  gave 
him  the  cloak,  and  he  wished  himself  a  fly,  and 
in  a  moment  he  was  a  fly.  *'  The  cloak  is  very 
well,"  said  he ;  "  now  give  me  the  sword."  "  No," 
said  they  ;  '*  not  unless  you  undertake  not  to 
say,  '  Heads  off! '  for  if  you  do,  we  are  all  dead 
men."  So  they  gave  it  him,  charging  him  to 
try  it  on  a  tree.  He  next  asked  for  the  boots 
also;  and  the  moment  he  had  all  three  in  his 
power,  he  wished  himself  at  the  Golden  Moun- 
tain; and  there  he  was  at  once.  So  the  giants 
were  left  behind  with  no  goods  to  share  or  quarrel 
about. 


148  THE  KING  OF  THE 

As  Heinel  came  near  his  castle  he  heard  the 
sound  of  merry  music;  and  the  people  around 
told  him  that  his  queen  was  about  to  marry 
another  husband.  Then  he  threw  his  cloak 
around  him,  and  passed  through  the  castle- 
hall,  and  placed  himself  by  the  side  of  his  queen, 
where  no  one  saw  him.  But  when  anything  to 
eat  was  put  upon  her  plate,  he  took  it  away 
and  ate  it  himself;  and  when  a  glass  of  wine 
was  handed  to  her,  he  took  it  and  drank  it: 
and  thus,  though  they  kept  on  giving  her 
meat  and  drink,  her  plate  and  cup  were  always 
empty. 

Upon  this  fear  and  remorse  came  over  her, 
and  she  went  into  her  chamber  alone,  and  sat 
there  weeping;  and  he  followed  her  there. 
"Alas!  "  said  she  to  herself,  "  was  I  not  once 
set  free?  why  then  does  this  enchantment  still 
seem  to  bind  me?  " 

"  False  and  fickle  one!  "  said  he,  "one  in- 
deed came  who  set  thee  free,  and  he  is  now  near 
thee  again;  but  how  have  you  used  him ?  ought 
he  to  have  had  such  treatment  from  thee?  " 
Then  he  went  out  and  sent  away  the  company, 
and  said  the  wedding  was  at  an  end,  for  that  he 
was  come  back  to  the  kingdom.  But  the  princes, 
peers,  and  great  men  mocked  at  him.  However, 
he  would  enter  into  no  parley  with  them,  but 


GOLDEN   MOUNTAIN 


149 


only  asked  them  if  they  would  go  in  peace  or 
not.  Then  they  turned  upon  him  and  tried  to 
seize  him;  but  he  drew  his  sword;  "Heads  off!  '* 
cried  he;  and  with  the  word,  the  traitors'  heads 
fell  before  him,  and  Heinel  was  once  more  king 
of  the  Golden  Mountain. 


PERSEPHONE 


She  stepped  upon  Sicilian  grass, 
Demeter's  daughter,  fresh  and  fair ; 

A  child  of  light,  a  radiant  lass. 
And  gamesome  as  the  morning  air. 

The  daffodils  were  fair  to  see. 

They  nodded  lightly  on  the  lea,      -- 

Persephone — Persephone ! 

Lo!  one  she  marked  of  fairer  growth 

Than  orchis  or  anemone: 
For  it  the  maiden  left  them  both. 

And  parted  from  her  company. 
,    Drawn  nigh  she  deemed  it  fairer  still. 
And  stooped  to  gather  by  the  rill 
The  daffodil,  the  daffodil. 

What  ailed  the  meadow  that  it  shook? 
What  ailed  the  air  of  Sicily? 

^  In  some  forms  of  this  story  the  maiden  is  called  Proserpina 
and  her  mother  Ceres.  Tennyson  tells  the  story  in  his  poem 
*'  Demeter." 

151 


152  PERSEPHONE 

She  wandered  by  the  prattling  brook, 

And  trembled  with  the  trembling  lea. 
**  The  coal-black  horses  rise — they  rise: 
O  Mother,  Mother!  **  low  she  cries — 
Persephone — Persephone ! 


''  O  Hght,  light,  light!  "  she  cried,  "  farewell; 

The  coal-black  horses  wait  for  me. 
O  shade  of  shades,  where  must  I  dwell, 

Demeter,  Mother,  far  from  thee ! 
Ah,  fated  doom  that  I  fulfil! 
Ah,  fateful  flower  beside  the  rill! 
The  daffodil,  the  daffodil!  " 

What  ails  her  that  she  comes  not  home? 

Demeter  seeks  her  far  and  wide, 
And  gloomy-browed  doth  ceaseless  roam 

From  many  a  mom  till  eventide. 
**  My  life,  immortal  though  it  be. 
Is  nought,"  she  cried,  **  for  want  of  thee, 
Persephone — Persephone!  " 

"  Meadows  of  Enna,  let  the  rain 
No  longer  drop  to  feed  your  rills. 

Nor  dew  refresh  the  fields  again. 
With  all  their  nodding  daffodils! 

Fade,  fade  and  droop,  O  lilied  lea. 

Where  thou,  dear  heart,  wast  reft  from  nie — 

Persephone — Persephone!" 


PERSEPHONE  153 

II 

She  reigns  upon  her  dusky  throne, 
'Mid  shades  of  heroes  dread  to  see; 

Among  the  dead  she  breathes  alone, 
Persephone — Persephone ! 

Or  seated  on  the  Elysian  hill 

She  dreams  of  earthly  daylight  still. 

And  murmurs  of  the  daffodil. 

A  voice  in  Hades  soundeth  clear. 
The  shadows  mourn  and  flit  below; 

It  cries — "  Thou  Lord  of  Hades,  hear, 
And  let  Demeter's  daughter  go. 

The  tender  com  upon  the  lea 

Droops  in  her  golden  gloom  when  she 

Cries  for  her  lost  Persephone. 

"  From  land  to  land  she  raging  flies, 
The  green  fruit  falleth  in  her  wake. 

And  harvest  fields  beneath  her  eyes 
To  earth  the  grain  unripened  shake. 

Arise  and  set  the  maiden  free ; 

Why  should  the  world  such  sorrow  dree  ^ 

By  reason  of  Persephone?  " 

He  takes  the  cleft  pomegranate  seeds, 
*'  Love,  eat  with  me  this  parting  day;  " 

Then  bids  them  fetch  the  coal-black  steeds — 
"  Demeter's  daughter,  wouldst  away?  " 

■    ■'  i  Dree  means  endure  or  bear. 


154  PERSEPHONE 

The  gates  of  Hades  set  her  free: 

''  She  will  return  full  soon/'  saith  he — 

"  My  wife,  my  wife  Persephone." 

Low  laughs  the  dark  king  on  liis  throne — 
*'  I  gave  her  of  pomegranate  seeds;  *' 

Demeter's  daughter  stands  alone 
Upon  the  fair  Eleusian  meads. 

Her  mother  meets  her.   *'  Hail!  '*  saith  she; 

*'  And  doth  our  daylight  dazzle  thee, 

My  love,  my  child  Persephone  ? 

**  What  moved  thee,  daughter,  to  forsake 
Thy  fellow-maids  that  fatal  morn, 

And  give  thy  dark  lord  power  to  take 
Thee  living  to  his  realm  forlorn?  ** 

Her  lips  reply  without  her  will. 

As  one  address  who  slimibereth  still — 

"  The  daffodil,  the  daffodil!  " 

Her  eyelids  droop  with  light  oppressed, 
And  sunny  wafts  that  round  her  stir. 

Her  cheek  is  on  her  mother's  breast, 
Demeter's  kisses  comfort  her. 

Calm  Queen  of  Hades,  art  thou  she 

Who  stepped  so  lightly  on  the  lea — 

Persephone,  Persephone? 

When,  in  her  destined  course,  the  moon 
Meets  the  deep  shadow  of  this  world, 


PERSEPHONE  155 

And  labouring  on  doth  seem  to  swoon 

Through  awful  wastes  of  dimness  whirled — 
Emerged  at  length,  no  trace  hath  she 
Of  that  dark  hour  of  destiny. 
Still  silvery  sweet — Persephone. 

The  greater  world  may  near  the  less, 

And  draw  it  through  her  weltering  shade, 

But  not  one  biding  trace  impress 
Of  all  the  darkness  that  she  made ; 

The  greater  soul  that  dra-veth  thee 

Hath  left  his  shadow  plai  i  to  see 

On  thy  fair  face,  Persephone! 

Demeter  sighs,  but  sure  'tis  well 
The  wife  should  love  her  destiny ; 

They  part,  and  yet,  as  legends  tell, 
She  mourns  her  lost  Persephone; 

While  chant  the  maids  of  Enna  still — 

*'  O  fateful  flower,  beside  the  rill — ■ 

The  daffodil,  the  daffodil!  " 

Jean  Ingelow  (1820-89). 


THE  WRITER  OF  THE  STORY 
OF  BEE 

The  best  way  to  learn  something  about  the 
author  of  Bee  is  to  study  with  care  the  portrait 
given  as  the  frontispiece  of  this  book.  You  shall 
form  your  own  opinion  of  the  man  from  the 
artist's  drawing  and  that  opinion  will  depend 
greatly  upon  the  amount  of  enjoyment  and  the 
number  of  ideas  you  have  got  from  his  story. 

His  name  is  sufficient  guide  to  his  nationality, 
and  you  will  know  by  easy  guesswork  that  you 
have  been  reading  a  translation  of  his  tale; 
but  the  change  from  French  to  EngUsh  is  so  well 
made  that  not  much  is  lost  of  the  charm  of  the 
story  as  Anatole  France  wrote  it.  The  best  way 
to  judge  his  work  is,  of  course,  to  read  it  in 
French. 

Anatole  France  is  not,  like  Hans  Andersen, 
a  recognised  fairy-tale  writer,  which  from  our 
point  of  view  seems  a  pity,  because  he  has  the 
light  touch  which  does  not  crush  the  gossamer 
or  brush  the  dust  from  the  wings  of  the  butter- 
fly.    It  is  of  no  use  having  a  heavy  touch  if 

157 


158  THE   WRITER  OF  BEE 

you  are  dealing  with  things  Hke  Queen  Mab's 
Wagon. 

Her  wagon-spokes  made  of  long  spinners'  legs. 
The  cover  of  the  wings  of  grasshoiDpers, 
Her  traces  of  the  smallest  spider's  web, 
Her  whip  of  crickets'  bone,  the  lash  of  film  ; 

Her  wagoner  a  small  grey-coated  gnat, 
Her  chariot  is  an  empty  hazel-nut 
Made  by  the  joiner  squirrel,  or  old  grub. 
Time  out  o'  mind  the  fairies*  coach-makers. 

One  of  our  own  writers,  John  Ruskin,  wrote 
one  fairy  tale  called  The  King  of  the  Golden 
River,  and  the  rest  of  his  writings,  like  those  of 
Anatole  France,  were  for  grown-up  readers. 
There  are  some  people  who  think  that  Ruskin's 
fairy  tale  is  one  of  the  best  of  its  kind  ever 
written,  and  Bee :  the  Princess  of  the  Dwarfs  is 
quite  worthy  to  stand  beside  it.  You  may  care 
to  compare  the  two  in  matters  of  detail  and  style, 
and  will  find  the  work  very  interesting  indeed; 
and  you  will  remember  that  it  is  quite  fair  to 
compare  these  two  stories,  for  they  were  both 
invented  or  "  made-up  "  by  their  authors  all  out 
of  their  own  heads. 

Most  of  the  old  fairy  tales,  like  Cinderella, 
seem  to  have  grown  Uke  the  cabbages,  or,  shall 
we  say,  the  roses.  They  have  been  told  again 
and  again  by  one  person  after  another  as  the 


THE  WRITER  OF  BEE  159 

years  rolled  by  and  they  were  well  known  be- 
fore anyone  set  them  down  in  print.  In  a  sense, 
Bee  and  The  King  of  the  Golden  River  are  not 
true  fairy  tales,  but  you  will  agree  that  they  are 
very  good  imitations  of  the  old  models. 

Anatole  France,  whose  real  surname  is  Thi- 
bault,  was  the  son  of  a  bookseller  in  Paris,  and 
was  born  so  long  ago  as  1844.  He  was  brought 
up  among  books  and  among  clever  men  who 
came  to  his  father's  shop  not  only  to  buy  books 
but  to  discuss  them.  It  is  not  surprising  that 
when  he  grew  up  he  should  begin  to  write  books. 

As  for  his  thoughts  about  things  in  general, 
you  will  find  them  all  in  the  pages  of  Bee :  the 
Princess  of  the  Dwarfs. 


^1? 


'CMFLC    piLfiSS    JLf   LCTCH^ORTM 


Other  Volumes  in 

THE   KINGS'   TREASURIES 
OF  LITERATURE 


Tales  from  Tolstoy*      Selected  Trans- 
lations  from  the  "  Parables  and 
Tales" 
Containing  Eight  Stories,  with  Short  Introduc- 
tion, Memoir  of  the  Author  and  a  Supplementary 
Chapter  entitled  ''Thoughts  and  Questions  after 
reading  the  Stories." 

The  Adventures  of  Odysseus 
Stories  from  the  Iliad 

Both  retold  from  Homer  by  F.  S.  Marvin,  R.  J.  G. 
Mayor  and  F.  M.  Stawell.  With  many  Illustra- 
tions from  Greek  vases,  a  short  Commentary  and 
Full  Pronouncing  Index  of  Proper  Names. 

Form-Room  Plays — Junior  Book 

Compiled  from  English  Literature  from  Chaucer 
to  Lewis  Carroll,  by  Evelyn  Smith. 

A  Wonder  Book*  By  Nathaniel  Haw- 
thorne. 
Edited  by  E.  M.  Wilmot-Buxton.     With  Intro- 
duction, Pronouncing  Index,  Essay  on  Hero  Stories 
and  Exercises. 

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